Complete
by McGrey'sAnatomy
Summary: Their paths met in a rainy evening. She needed help and he was there to help her. Starting that night, their lives felt complete. Mer/Der
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy storyline or characters. This is pure fiction, result of my imagination and it's just for fun. **

**N/A: New Mer/Der story. You'll have some questions after you read this first chapter, but you'll get the answers in time as the story unfolds. It'll have romance, humor, drama, so I hope you won't get bored and you'll enjoy each chapter. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you. ****Dana**

**--**

**RICHARD WEBBER M.D. – Chief of surgery**

Behind the door that held the name written on, Dr. Richard Webber himself was smiling proudly at the paper he was holding.

"Meredith Grey," he read, emphasizing the name with pride.

Across from him, Meredith Grey was struggling to ignore the heat from his office and the uncomfortable position she was sitting on. Despite her discomfort, she couldn't help but smile. There she was, in front of her new boss, at one of the best hospitals in Washington.

"I'm so glad you've chosen to join our staff," Dr. Webber put the paper down and directed his smile towards her. "New York Presbyterian sent me a fantastic record of your first year as surgical intern. I don't know what made you leave the Big Apple, but I don't even want to know," he chuckled. "I'm happy to have you here."

"I'm glad to be here," Meredith smiled back. "I remember, my mother told me once about Seattle Grace. I know this is the place where she did her residency."

"Indeed," Dr. Webber confirmed. "Ellis and I did our residency together at this hospital. I chose to stay and work here afterwards and she chose Boston. How's Ellis doing?" he asked her with sincere interest. "It's been a few months since we last talked."

"She's still in Boston," Meredith answered.

"Has she retired from the OR as I heard?" He asked her.

"Yes," Meredith answered. "Two months ago. Now she teaches at Dartmouth."

"Oh, the place where you studied as well."

"That's right," Meredith smiled, slightly uncomfortable; she had never liked talking this much about her personal life. "So, are all my papers alright now?" She asked him, hoping to bring the topic back to the professional side, also struggling to stand upright over his desk.

"Yes. The contract is signed, your file is complete. All we need now is to see you working for us," Dr. Webber stated as he stood up and walked around the desk to come to her side. He slid an arm around hers and helped her stand up. "When are you due?" He asked her, glancing down at her enormous baby bump.

"In exactly 6 days," Meredith answered, panting because of the effort she had made to reposition herself in her chair. The baby had been kicking for over an hour now and that did nothing but emphasize the fatigue. She circled the bump with her hand, lingering over the spot where she felt the baby's kick, rubbing it intensively.

"I don't want to seem nosy and please don't answer if you find it too personal," he stammered as he walked her to the door. "What does your mother think about your pregnancy?"

"She was in her third year of residency when she birthed me," Meredith answered, looking willingly to answer his question. "And I'll be in my second," she added. "She's not happy, but she can't lecture me either."

"Alright," Dr. Webber smiled and nodded.

"Ok," Meredith nodded back, happy to see that they were done again with her personal life.

"The test is in 5 weeks from now, do you think you can come and take it then?" he asked her.

"I will," she answered promptly. She had planned everything regarding her career so that the baby's arrival wouldn't pull her back. She was 39 weeks pregnant with one month left of her first year as surgical intern; the practice around the hospital was slow for all the interns, so her maternity leave matched perfectly, leaving her more time for studying. After her first year test, she could have at least two more months of maternity leave, without such big holes in her career. Two months were going to be enough for her to find the perfect nanny and then, her career would get back on track.

"Just in case you won't be able, you can have another chance a month later," he mentioned.

"Thank you," she smiled with faint shade of sarcasm. "I won't need favors though."

"We're not talking about favors here, Dr. Grey," Dr. Webber cleared out. "This is a rule that applies to each intern or resident that can't take a test because of a medical condition."

"Alright," she nodded. A sharp pain hit her in her stomach, leaving her almost breathless. She managed to hide it from her boss, but as soon as the pain increased, she turned to the door, ready to leave.

"I guess I'll see you in 5 or 6 days for the big day," Dr. Webber stated as he walked her outside.

"I guess so," she succeeded to smile faintly. "Goodbye, Dr. Webber."

"Goodbye, Dr. Grey," he returned to his office while Meredith headed towards the exit.

**--**

It was a rainy and chill twilight of August. Meredith stopped outside the parking lot and turned to watch the dim falling over the enormous building, ignoring the rain that was dripping through her hair. It was a new start for her. It was a better start for her… for them she remembered as she felt the baby kicking her hardly. That put an end to her trance. She unlocked her car and slid inside to warmth and dryness. She shut the door, shielding herself from the rain and closed her eyes as she rested her head against the chair. Her hands were circling her baby bump again, more intensively now since the pain was more intense as well.

"Calm down now, baby girl," she moaned softly, as she tried to back out the pain. "Go to sleep and give mommy a break so that I can drive us home and lay down," but as answer, another sharp pain hit her and she had to bite her lip and fight back a shriek. Meredith tried to regain the control over her breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly. She inhaled and then exhaled. Slowly, the pain was fading and she could feel the baby standing still. She sighed with relief and smiled down at her baby bump, caressing it slowly. "Thank you."

She was finally ready to go home… partially. There was a reason why pregnant women were taking more weeks of leave before the birth, preferring to stay at home, besides the medical recommendation of resting. The baby bump was huge, which made her hold her chair pulled farther from the wheel, her arms stretching exhaustingly to reach to the wheel and the feet, heavy and swollen, hardly visible for her eyes and all these were making the driving a nightmare for Meredith. She fumbled with the key until she found the contact and now she was definitely ready to go home. Her rented car purred softly to life and left smoothly the parking spot.

Probably it had taken her more than 5 minutes to start the car and now the light was fading outside. Meredith turned on the headlights to help her watch the road carefully. It was evening already and many people were heading to their homes. Meredith's house wasn't far from the hospital; 15 minutes on light traffic, but now, it wasn't that kind of traffic. Meredith veered to the right on a street and decided to take a detour. 30 minutes were better than 60 minutes of trailing, she thought; too bad she couldn't reach to turn on the music. She would have liked to change the sound of the rain dripping over the car's hood with any other sound.

She was back on the main road, leading to her house. The traffic was still light. Apparently, not many drivers had the idea of a detour and most of them were still trailing and honking in the center of the city.

Then she felt the worst pain, causing her foot jerk from the pedal and the car died brutally. She had to hold herself steady on the wheel not to crash against it. The pain started fading again, but this time she knew it wouldn't disappear completely. Her thighs were soaked and she knew she was in labor.

"Oh crap," she muttered as she became aware of that. "Why didn't you say you want out when we were still at the hospital?" she started talking to her baby, while she struggled to revive the car and pull it off the road. The car purred to life again and it took her just a second to move the car out of the angry honks of the other drivers. "Why now?" she whimpered, hitting her head against her chair while she started rubbing intensively the bump with both hands. The pain was light but still present and in any minute, another contraction would hit. Meredith took advantage of it and overturned her bag onto the passenger seat, fumbling after her phone.

Her vision was blurry because of the sweat and the tears of fears that involuntarily filled her eyes; her hands were shaky because of the pain and fear. She wiped her eyes and face, trying to see clearer on the display screen, scrolling down for a number. She found it and finally pressed dial.

"Richard Webber speaking," a man's voice greeted her after only one ring.

"Dr. Webber," Meredith panted. "It's Meredith," her throat was dry and her voice was husky already.

"Meredith?" Dr. Webber became suddenly alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"I… argh," she screamed in pain as a strong contraction hit her.

"Meredith!" Dr. Webber shouted in the phone, more alarmed now. "Are you in labor? Tell me where are you?"

All she could let out was a panting noise as the words chocked back in her throat. The pain made her feel like she was being cut open all around her abdomen without anesthesia. Then she remembered she had to control her breathing. She inhaled and exhaled. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slower. The pain was fading, but it was still unbearable. "I'm in labor," she succeeded to whisper.

"Where are you?" Dr. Webber urged her to tell him.

"I…" Meredith looked outside, fighting against the darkness and her weak vision to see where exactly she was. She could see down from the road where she was, a ferryboat docked in the port. "I'm on the Southport St."

"I'm sending an ambulance there right now. Stay calm, Meredith. Everything will be alright," he reassured her.

Meredith winced as she felt the pain creasing again and closed the phone. "Wait a few more minutes, ok?" she looked down at her baby bump, talking to it again. "What's with this hurry?" Then another strong contraction hit her. It was worse and she felt for the first time the need to push. She inhaled and exhaled repetitively until the contraction faded again.

"Are you alright?" A knock in her window made her gasp and brought another contraction. She grasped on the wheel, gritting her teeth tightly to restrain a yell. Then she felt the chill wind and the rain invading her car. "You're in labor," the man's voice stated, slightly worried. Meredith was too weak to watch or defend herself and let his strong arm wound around her waist. "Has the water broken?" he asked her. Meredith just nodded. "Ok, I'm going to move you in the backseats. Wrap your arms around my neck," he told her.

Exhausted, she tied her arms around his neck as he told her to do and rested her head on his shoulder. The rain started pouring over face as soon as he took her out of the car. She could feel him struggling with her weight as he went to the other door and knelt so that he could put her inside the car again.

"Lay down," he told her softly. "I'm going to call an ambulance."

"No," she caught his wrist before he could step out of the car. For the first time she saw him. His features were kind, but the look inside his blue eyes was worried. From his dark curls was dripping rain down his face. "I called for one," she muttered panting.

"Ok," the man sighed with relief. He sat down at her feet, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "Do you want me to call someone?" he asked her.

Meredith shook her head. Tears filled her eyes again, this time not just because of the pain. "I have no one," she muttered under her breath as she let her head fall to back.

The man looked at her with pity and gave her a comforting smile. She didn't see his pitiful look, but she did look up when he smiled. She smiled back, faintly but gratefully enough.

"I'm going to stay with you until the ambulance gets here, ok?" Meredith nodded weakly. "Are you in term?" he asked her.

"Six days before the term," she said. Then another contraction hit and she grasped on the chair. "Breathe slowly," he told her. "And do not push." His hand slowly caressed her baby bump. "How apart are the contractions?" he asked.

"I … I don't … know," she said panting.

"That's ok," he leaned down to her, wiping her forehead and face of sweat. "What's your name?"

"Meredith," she said.

"Meredith," he smiled as he repeated her name. "My name is Derek."

Meredith was about to answer with a nod when she felt a new contraction. Then he caught her hand and let her squeeze on his as she screamed. "Breathe in," he reminded her. "Breathe in and let the air out slowly."

She complied and the pain was fading again.

Derek sighed discreetly. She didn't look like she was going to hold the baby inside until the ambulance would get there. "When did you call for the ambulance?" he asked her, looking out the window. But there were no lights of an ambulance or even a sound of it. Cars were passing by them and nobody seemed to notice that they were in need for help.

"I don't know," she whimpered.

"That's ok," he said softly. He knew she must have lost the track of time.

"I need to push," she cried out. "I can't stand it," her hand clutching on the door handle.

"Try not…" he tried to encourage her, but then he saw she was having another contraction. "Ok," he muttered under his breath. "Do you have a first aid kit?" he asked her.

"Yes. Why?" she jerked her head up to look at him, panicked.

"Calm down," he told her. "I'm a doctor and I don't think you can wait for the ambulance."

"Here?" she shouted. "Do you want me to give birth in here? With you?" she showed the intention of standing up, but Derek held her and pushed her back down.

"Calm down, Meredith," he said softly. "I need to look."

"No!" she shouted, struggling again to stand up, but his hands where holding her firmly against the seat. Then another contraction hit and she grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. "I need to push!" she whimpered, gritting her teeth. "I can't… it hurts," she cried and loosened the grip.

"You have to trust me, Meredith," he said. "I know it's uncomfortable, but I think that your baby's safety is much more important right now."

"But here?" she whimpered.

"Where's the kit?" he asked her. Meredith glanced to the trunk. "I'll be right back," he reassured her.

Meredith continued to lay there, uncomfortable in the small space. She was no longer in the condition of asking who was that stranger and how was she going to bring her baby girl into the world in the backseats of a car. All she was asking was how long would the pain last and if it would get worse.

"I found your bag for the baby," Derek said when he returned inside. "It's pink," he smiled as he set it down.

"It's a girl," Meredith whimpered.

"You have a clean blanket in here," he said, pulling out of the back a pink baby blanket with bunnies. "Just in case," he wanted to reassure her as he saw her frown.

Meredith complied unwillingly.

"Now I know this sounds inappropriate but I need to… to look under," he smiled awkwardly, pointing to the dress she was wearing.

Though she never liked them, Meredith found out how comfortable the pregnancy dresses were; especially starting with the 30th week when no other clothing item was fitting her. She cried out because of the pain and lifted halfheartedly her dress over her thighs.

"I need to… now," he stammered as he gestured to her panties.

"Do whatever you have to do and save us both faster from this embarrassing moment!" Meredith burst nervously as she lifted herself partially to glare at him. Then she collapsed onto her back, exhausted.

Derek stared at her for a moment, but then he snapped back to reality. She was right. He was also a doctor so there was no time for awkwardness regarding a patient's intimate parts. He pulled down her panties, stripping them off carefully down her ankles. The space was still too small for them and Derek found it impossible to check how dilated she was. "Try to rest your back against the door," he suggested.

Meredith crawled on her elbows until she was half up, able to lean her back against the door.

"Now flex your knees and part the legs wide," he told her and Meredith complied. Derek leaned down and sighed. "I think it's coming out," he muttered.

"She!" Meredith snapped.

"She's coming out," Derek smiled. He looked outside, hoping he would see an ambulance, but there was nothing new in the view. For a second he even felt outraged by the other drivers' indifference; although, it was hard to see on that rain that something was wrong in Meredith's car. "You have to start pushing," he stated, taking a pair of sterile gloves from Meredith's first aid kit.

"Are you sure?" she looked at him worriedly.

"I am," he smiled reassuringly. "If the ambulance doesn't show up by the time the baby is out, I am taking to the hospital, I promise," he squeezed her hand encouragingly. "Everything is going to be fine," he muttered under his breath, encouraging himself as well. "Ok now… take a deep breath and push as hard as you can, exhaling. Hold on my hand," he held out his hand for her.

She did as he told her to do and the push came together with a deafening shout of pain. Meredith rested her head against the window, breathing powerless.

"You have to push again, Meredith," Derek squeezed her hand encouragingly. "Another push, please."

"I hate this," she whimpered.

"You're going to love it in a minute," he chuckled. "Breathe in and try to push again," he told her. He bent and looked down between her thighs. "It's…" his words stopped as Meredith squashed badly his hands, making him wince in pain. "I still needed this," he muttered under his breath, shaking his hand as soon as Meredith loosened the grip. "I can see its head," he told her.

"Hers," she snapped through gritted teeth.

"Hers," he corrected himself. "We're close, so stay strong," he encouraged her. "Just a few more pushes."

"In a car," she started grumbling, while she was trying to refocus on breathing. "I am sure he cursed me to give birth in a car with a stranger, in a rainy day," she continued, now glaring at Derek.

Derek stared at her, confused for a moment. He didn't know what she was talking about, but he knew it wasn't he the one she was glaring. "You have to focus and push again," he told her, hesitating before he gave her his hand again. "Come on," he took her hand and encouraged her. "Breathe in deeply and push."

Meredith inhaled deeply as he told her and then fought the pain and strived to push as hard as she could, screaming louder in pain.

"That's good," he chuckled, seeing almost half of the baby outside.

"How is she doing?" a female's voice made him startle. He noticed just then the ambulance lights and two paramedics standing behind him, outside in the rain.

"The baby is almost out," he told them, concentrating back to Meredith. "That was great, Meredith. Breathe in and push again," he told her.

"Sir, please step outside and let us take over," the woman told him, grabbing him by his shoulder.

"I am a doctor myself so I can finish what I've started," he told her, hardly keeping his calm.

"Sir, you are not authorized to this so please step outside," the paramedic insisted.

"Authorized or not, I was here when she needed help, so please wait for your turn!" he spat at her, making her stir.

Meredith was too lost in pain to focus on their argument. Suddenly she grabbed his hand, squeezing it painfully and shrieked as she gave another push.

A healthy cry cut in between their arguments. Derek caught the baby girl and carefully wrapped her in a blanket before he placed her on her mother's chest.

The sweat was gliding down her face in streams. She was breathless and feeling like in a bath of steams and tears had flooded her eyes as she looked at the tiny human being on chest.

"You can move her now," he sighed, his eyes tearing as he watched how the baby calmed down once that she met her mother's warmth. He got out of the car and let the paramedics move her, but still supervising each move. "I'll take care of your car," he leaned down and told her. But Meredith didn't give him any answer as her little girl was the only thing in the world she cared about. "Take her to Seattle Grace Hospital," Derek told the paramedics.

"There's where we have been asked to take her," the woman answered, a little irritated by Derek's bossing attitude.

"Good," he muttered under his breath, sighing with relief.

"Sir?" the woman came to him with a clipboard in her hand. "What's your name?" she asked him.

"Derek Shepherd," he answered, watching how Meredith and her baby were settled inside the ambulance, without paying attention to the paramedic, who wrote down his name on the paper.

"Congratulations," she smiled at him.

Dazzled, he looked at her and nodded. That wasn't the first birth he had helped on throughout his career as doctor and that wasn't the first weird place either where he had to practice medicine, but it was for the first time when he felt overwhelmed by a warm feeling afterwards.

Meredith didn't remember much from that moment. She was exhausted physically and emotionally and as much as she fought against it, she lost the battle with her eyelids. She hadn't believed the feeling would be so intense; she hadn't even prepared herself to become a mother, but everything changed from the moment she felt her daughter's chest raising against hers. She felt the bond with her daughter in a heartbeat.


	2. Chapter 2

**_N/A: This is a Mer/Der story, so no matter who the father is, I am not changing the pairing._**

**_--_**

It was late that evening when Derek finally made it to the hospital. His shift had ended hours ago and then all he wanted was to go home and sleep. Everything changed in his plans and life as driving back home he passed past a stopped car and noticed a woman resting her forehead against the wheel, looking as if she was unconscious. He stopped his car and from that moment, all he wanted was to know that mother and daughter were doing well.

"Hi," he said, leaning over the counter at the nurse behind it. "A woman and her newborn have been brought here around an hour ago."

"The one from the Southport St.?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered immediately. "Are they here?" he asked her impatiently.

"Yes, they are," she said and looked in the computer. "Meredith Shepherd," she read. "She is in room 2416 and her condition is stable. Congratulation, Dr. Shepherd," she told Derek with a wide smile.

Derek was staring at her, confused. "Thanks," he mumbled and turned around, walking slowly towards room 2416. She had the last name as his. He knew his last name wasn't unique, but the coincidence was bemusing.

Derek found Meredith's room easily. He saw through the small window of the door her frame laying in bed and a nurse beside her bed. Derek opened the door slowly and sneaked his head inside to see that Meredith was sleeping.

The nurse looked up at him as she heard the door opening and smiled.

"How is she?" he asked her in whisper, walking towards Meredith's bed. It was dark inside the room, but he could still watch her face as she slept.

"Exhausted, but healthy," the nurse answered, coming beside Derek. Both of them were now watching her.

"And the baby?" he asked, without looking away from Meredith.

"She's healthy too. We're keeping her in the incubator this night. Let her sleep because the baby may ask for her first meal soon," the nurse told him and then she made her way out of the room.

Derek walked to her bedside and sat down at the edge of a chair, continuing to watch her. She looked worried as she slept, lines crossing her forehead. He didn't know anything about her besides her name, but the last hours' course hadn't been easy and that must have been the reason for her disquieted sleep. He drew the blanket upper and smiled as she moaned softly and her forehead smoothed a little. Then he stood up and walked slowly to the window. It was night already and the rain was still pouring badly outside. He leaned his side against the window watching the city lights through the rain. Now that he knew both mother and daughter were fine, he had all the reasons to go home in peace, but this thought was far from him. Something was keeping him there.

There was a couch beside the window; small, but looking like being the only furniture comfortable enough to lie on. He propped his legs over the armrest and his head against the other side of the couch, facing Meredith.

He had just closed his eyes when he thought he heard a snore. He opened his eyes and focused on listening. There was again another quiet snore. Derek chuckled quietly as he realized it was Meredith's snore. He couldn't help but keep on smiling as he closed his eyes, drifting to sleep with the sound.

Later, a thunder sounded loudly outside and made his eyes snap open. He stood up and stretched his body, flexing his neck and shoulders because of the uncomfortable position he had had on the couch. Derek walked over to the window, leaning against it and watching how the rain was washing the city. It was dark and silence outside the hospital, just now and then the silence being broken by the siren of an ambulance. Then the light flicked on.

"Who are you?" Meredith's husky voice asked. She looked confused at the stranger that was standing in her hospital room in the middle of the night. She stood half-upright, wincing as she felt the soreness.

Her unexpected waking made Derek stir. He turned and looked at her for a moment, confused by her question. "I'm Derek," he said softly as he started walking towards her bed.

Meredith was still confused as he told her his name, but as he got closer and came into the light, she started remembering his kind eyes and his warm smile. "Oh," she said quietly, remembering.

Derek smiled and stopped beside her bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

Meredith shrugged, still confused by the reason of Derek's presence in her hospital room in the middle of the night. "Tired," she mumbled.

"That's understandable," he chuckled.

As Derek's chuckle died off, the silence felt awkwardly for both of them. He knew what she was thinking, but he didn't have a precise answer to give her and she was curios and confused at the same time to find out his answer.

"Thank you," she managed to smile faintly, struggling to look honest. Maybe that was what he was expecting from her. But was he there just to hear her appreciations for his help, she asked herself.

"No reason to thank me," he smiled. "I'm glad I could help you."

Meredith didn't know what else to do but smile. If that wasn't the reason, then what was he doing there?

"What are you doing here?" she finally put the question.

Derek smiled in attempt of hiding his embarrassment. "I wanted to make to sure that you and the baby are alright," he said quietly, but he knew that wasn't a good explanation.

"I am alright," Meredith answered, now suddenly worried. "I didn't get to see my baby yet though," she muttered.

Derek saw in her eyes the fear and understood. "She's alright as well," he said quickly, denying any reason for her to be worried.

Now Meredith was curious again and Derek saw that in her eyes. "You want to know why I am still here?" he asked and Meredith nodded. He chuckled, rubbing his nape. "I was feeling a little too tired to go home, so…" it wasn't the real reason, but it wasn't a fake one either.

"Ok," she nodded. The answer seemed reasonable.

Meredith laid back down under the blanket and rolled to a side, facing him. They looked into each other's eyes into an even more awkward silence than before.

"Go back to sleep," he told her as he saw her yawning. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

Meredith just shook her head reassuringly.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked her.

Meredith thought about it for a moment. He didn't look like he wanted to leave. She was too tired to wonder why, so she shrugged. "It's late," she mumbled. Then she noticed his discreet sigh of relief. She still didn't understood why, so she closed her eyes, drifting to sleep instantly.

Derek watched her sleeping for a moment and then turned off the light. He was wondering now if it wouldn't be better for him to leave. He didn't want to seem dangerous to Meredith.

Now that he was sure that Meredith and the baby were alright, Derek decided it would be better to leave.

He took his jacket and walked quietly to the door, opening it carefully not to wake her up again. He closed back the door and put on the jacket as he started walking towards the elevators. Passing by a hall, Derek stopped suddenly. He watched the hall that was leading to the nursery, unsure of what he wanted to do next. He had seen the mother, so he felt like he should see the baby too. There wasn't too much medical staff on the neonatology floor at that late hour and he was a doctor so he could have access there without any trouble. Derek walked along the hall until he reached to another nurses' station and across from it was the nursery.

He looked around to check who was there and smiled, slightly uncomfortable, as he met the nurse's smile from behind the desk.

"Are you here to see baby Shepherd?" she asked, coming to him. Both of them looked through the window at the babies.

"Yes…" he said. "If it's possible."

"Why wouldn't it be?" the nurse chuckled as she opened the door. "Follow me," she said, walking inside. She handed him a gown.

Derek hesitated briefly, but followed her, dressing the gown. The nurse stopped beside a crib. "We just got her out of the incubator."

Derek watched the tiny baby, with her pink flannel hat almost falling off her head, her hands rolled into tiny fists. "She's healthy, isn't she?" he asked, without taking his eyes from her.

"She's perfectly healthy," the nurse said. "And very pretty," she added, smiling at Derek.

"She is," Derek agreed, smiling as he reached down slowly to touch her hand.

"You can hold her," the nurse said.

Derek looked up at her, surprised. He wasn't passing as the baby's father, was he? "I think it would be better if the mother will hold her first," he said.

"Oh, you are right," the nurse smiled. "She should wake up soon anyway for her first meal," she said, smiling down at the baby. "You can just sit here with her," she told him, smiling friendly at him.

"Ok," Derek nodded, smiling at her and followed her with his eyes until she left the room. He looked back down at the baby and instantly his smile became wider. He watched the baby, listening to her soft sleeping sound. Despite his rich experience as doctor, he was still amazed by the miracle of life and this baby girl wasn't any baby; she was the baby he had helped to come into the world inside of a car.

Derek touched her chest with his fingertip, carefully as if she was so fragile that she could break. He felt her chest breathing against his finger, her heartbeat tickling it. Derek caressed her cheek, again gently and barely touching her. Her skin felt so soft and warm beneath his finger like anything he had touched before.

The baby girl frowned and started fussing, wriggling her fists in air. Derek touched her fist, smiling as the girl clutched on his finger.

"Welcome into the world, little princess," he whispered, already mesmerized by the warm feeling that had started growing inside of him. "Your mommy is very lucky to have you," he continued talking to her in whisper, bending closer to her. The baby just wriggled a little the hand she was holding his finger with, probably as answer to his compliment.

Derek watched her a for another minute, wondering if she had her mother's eyes, if she was looking more like her father and how it felt to cradle her to his chest. All the babies were charming in their personal ways, but to Derek, this baby girl was the most wonderful thing. Probably he felt like that because of the circumstances she had been born in; probably she had something special that made him fall for her. Unwillingly, Derek decided he should tell her goodbye. He shook her hand lightly and touched her hand with his lips, kissing her softly. As he tried to pull his finger from her grip, he noticed how tightly she was holding on him.

"I like you too, but you should let go of me," he whispered to her, chuckling quietly. He tried to pull his finger from her hand again, gently not to disturb her sleep, but her grip was too firm.

Derek sighed, uncomfortable with the situation. A few hours old baby was holding him hostage.

The baby girl calmed down and continued to sleep soundly. She turned her face to Derek's hand, still holding on his finger, mouthed something mutually and slept.

Derek couldn't help but smile at her cute image. He crouched down beside her crib, propping his chin on its edge and watched the baby. He waved her hand slowly, caressing her cheek with his finger. Suddenly he felt the urge of holding her into his arms. Derek stood up, her hand still holding his finger, and looked around the room, hesitating. Other babies were sleeping peacefully in the nursery and there was no grown-up around.

He leaned down to her and whispered. "Do you think your mommy will be upset?"

The baby opened her mouth and mouthed mutually again. Derek chuckled quietly at their imaginary conversation. 'She won't know,' he thought. 'Besides, she owes me,' he continued, encouraging himself to pick the baby up.

He leaned over the crib and slid slowly a hand behind her, while he pulled the finger from her grip. The baby fussed and whimpered a little, but Derek hurried to calm her down. He rocked her back and forth, mumbling quietly a lullaby. The baby calmed down and kept on sleeping.

Derek didn't know how long he rocked her, but then the door opened and the same nurse walked inside.

"You couldn't help it," she whispered as she came to her.

"No," he smiled at her.

"That's all right," she smiled reassuringly. "But I think you should leave now," she whispered apologetically.

Derek looked at her, frowning displeased.

"I made an exception," she whispered.

Derek nodded reluctantly. He gave the baby a kiss and then he put her back down in her crib. "Welcome into the world," he whispered to her ear.


	3. Chapter 3

Through her dreamless sleep, Meredith heard a whimper echoing in her room. She slowly opened her eyes to meet the night's darkness. Her face was turned towards the door as she woke up, perceiving a human frame, shadowed by the light coming from the hall.

"Derek?" her husky voice asked, confused.

"No," a woman whispered and Meredith saw her coming slowly to her bed.

Meredith trailed up on the pillows, leaning against the headboard, and reached to turn on the lamps above her hospital bed. A smile broke on her face and her eyes locked on the crib the nurse was pushing.

"She's hungry," the nurse smiled as she picked up the baby girl and brought her to Meredith.

Instinctively, her arms flexed, making a small crib to welcome the baby. The nurse carefully put the baby in Meredith's arms.

"Do you need help?" she asked her as she leaned closer, ready to untie her gown.

Meredith couldn't tear her eyes from her baby girl. She hadn't done it before, but she was sure she would figure it out. "No," she muttered, smiling down at her baby.

"Let me help you with the gown," the nurse offered and Meredith leaned forward a little, so the nurse could untie her gown. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be back later," the nurse told her.

Meredith just nodded and the nurse left the room. The baby was fussing in her arms, ready to claim her meal shouting, but Meredith's eyes wandered all over the girl. She had her tiny eyes opened, staring blindly ahead. Meredith couldn't tell what color they were; it looked like green, but had a shade of blue as well. Her thin lips outlined her tiny mouth, her tongue sticking out from time to time, anticipating the meal.

Meredith giggled, mesmerized by the little human she was holding in her arms; her little human. She shrugged off the gown, letting it drop under her breasts, while she held the baby on one arm, and helped her find the breast. It was an inbred instinct when the mother breastfed her baby.

She hadn't prepared herself to become a mother. She hadn't been aware of the human life she was carrying inside her body until she held her baby girl in her arms. She had kept the pregnancy just to piss off her ex-boyfriend and her mother. Despite all these, now that her baby girl was there, breathing in her arms, her soft mouth feeding with her love, Meredith knew she was going to make it somehow. She didn't know yet how, but she knew she could be a mother to her child.

It was still early the next morning when Derek stepped out the scrubbing room. Each of the medical staff he had met during the night congratulated him. He surely hadn't expected to such reactions. What he had done wasn't uncommon. Derek answered with a simple smile and walked away each time a person stopped him.

Was such a heroic gesture to help a woman give birth? He kept asking himself.

Whatever was going on and whatever people were saying, Derek was too tired to think of it. The only thing he had in his mind was to get home at last and crash in his bed - that and other thing. He was in the elevator, heading down in the lobby, when the doors opened at the neonatology floor. In that moment, his plans for the day changed again. Derek stepped out of the elevator without giving a second thought and went straight to the room he knew already.

Derek peaked through the small window inside the room to see Meredith in her bed, cradling her baby and Dr. Webber, talking to her. He knocked lightly as he opened the door and sneaked his head inside.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked in whisper.

Meredith shook her head in response while Dr. Webber stood up. "Oh, Dr. Shepherd," he greeted him with a smile.

Derek walked into the room and let the door close behind him as he went over to her bed. "How are you?" he asked Meredith.

"I'm doing ok," she answered with a smile. "Both of us," she added, more to herself as she smiled down at her baby girl.

"Meredith was telling me how lucky she was you found her," Dr. Webber cut in.

Derek couldn't help but smile when he saw the blush in Meredith's cheeks as she dazed down at her baby, not daring to look at him after a confession like that. Derek chuckled quietly and nodded. "As I said, I am glad I could help."

"I can't believe that you left from my office and you didn't say anything about the pain," Dr. Webber looked at Meredith, a fatherly reproach in his voice.

"I…" Meredith wanted to say, but this time Derek cut in.

"Do you know each other?" he asked them.

"Her mother is an old friend of mine," Dr. Webber answered. "Meredith is actually ending her first year of internship here."

Derek smiled, surprised to hear that. "You're a doctor too?"

Meredith looked up at him and nodded.

"Surgery is her field," Dr. Webber added. "So you'll have the chance to work together as soon as Meredith returns from her maternity leave. Dr. Shepherd is our head of Neurology," he said, making the official introduction. "He worked at New York Presbyterian too."

"Did you work at New York Presbyterian as well?" Derek asked, more surprised to find out other things they had in common, besides their last name – or so he thought.

"Yes," she nodded her head. "I heard you left shortly before I got there."

"Then I moved here," Derek confirmed. "So what brings you to Seattle?"

"Personal issues," she shrugged. "How about you?"

"Personal issues," he answered, smiling.

"Oh," her answer showed she knew about his divorce.

"Yeah," Derek chuckled. "Well… I look forward to work together. Although it will be a little weird to be two doctors Shepherd here," he laughed. "I think people have started already to think that you're my wife."

Meredith and Webber looked at each other, neither of them understanding what Derek was talking about, and then both stares turned to Derek.

"What?" Derek smiled, confused.

"Her last name is not Shepherd," Dr. Webber stated.

His smile faded instantly, replaced by confusion. "It's not? Are you sure?"

"I am very sure," Meredith frowned, not understanding why Derek couldn't understand that.

"Her last name is Grey," Dr. Webber added. "She is Elli's Grey daughter."

Derek stared at Meredith, his mind in a complete haze. He was sure she was the same woman he had helped the previous night. He was also sure she was the one he had visited hours ago- Meredith Shepherd… and the baby Shepherd.

"Shepherd, what is it?" Dr. Webber demanded, slightly irritated by Derek's attitude.

"You're last name is not Shepherd?" he asked Meredith again.

"Do you want to check my ID to believe me?" she frowned.

"I just told you her last name is Grey. Why are you insisting?" Webber asked.

Derek stared at Meredith, his mind rewinding the events. He hadn't asked her about her last name when he found her, so he knew her first name only. She was definitely the same Meredith he had met the previous night. Then it clicked. The paramedic had asked him about his name.

Derek sighed loudly as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"What is it?" Meredith demanded. "What's wrong with him?" she asked Webber, but Webber shrugged, clueless.

"That's all right," Derek said quickly. "There has been a mistake but it's nothing that we can't handle. It's something minor."

"What are you talking about?" Meredith insisted, not understanding what he was trying to say.

Derek took a deep breath before he could explain. "Apparently," he started hesitantly.

"What?" Meredith snapped, causing the baby to fuss.

"Apparently, you and the baby are registered under the name of Shepherd," he said.

"What?" Both, Meredith and Webber asked in the same time.

Derek gave her an apologetic smile, feeling directly responsible for the misunderstanding.

In that moment, Dr. Webber went and looked at Meredith's wrist, while Meredith checked the baby's. On their pink bracelets was written Shepherd.

For an instant, Meredith felt a shiver of panic and her eyes wandered over the baby she was holding in her arms. Her features, her short, soft blonde hair, her tiny pink lips and her blushing cheeks, were all familiar to her. Meredith sighed with relief. She cradled the baby closer to her chest, rocking her slowly.

"I'll go look for your chart," Dr. Webber stated and darted outside.

Derek stayed like frozen in front of her bed, not daring to say anything, move or even breathe.

"That's ok. Relax," Meredith muttered, gently caressing her baby's cheek. She looked up at him as he showed no intention of relaxing. "You didn't do it deliberately, did you?" she asked him.

"Of course not," Derek replied quickly and made walked over to sit down at her feet.

"Can you help me take these off?" she asked him, showing him her wrist.

Derek nodded and came to her side. He unfastened Meredith's bracelet and then the baby's, smiling when the baby opened her eyes.

"Do you mind if I hold her?" he asked Meredith.

Meredith looked into his eyes and saw the radiance in his eyes as he anxiously waited for her answer. She smiled and carefully handed him the baby. Derek held out his arms and his hands slid carefully under the baby.

"Be careful," she muttered, looking worried as the baby left her arms and went in Derek's.

"Don't worry," he smiled down at the baby. "I have some practice," he said, taking the baby's tiny hand in his. "Good morning, baby girl."

As answer, the baby let out a long yawn.

"Do you have any children?" she asked him.

Derek looked at her suspiciously. "You didn't hear about my story back at New York Presbyterian?"

"No. Did you have a story there besides your career?" she asked.

Derek raised his brows, surprised to find out about the discretion he didn't know it exist at his previous work place. "I don't have any children," he answered and smiled down at the baby again.

The baby girl opened her mouth as if she was yawning and started wriggling her hands in the air towards Derek. He gently took her hand again and leaned down as he kissed it, while the baby slapped him with the other one. "Hello, hello!" Derek laughed at her greeting.

"She likes you," Meredith said quietly as she watched the interaction between her baby girl and Dr. Shepherd, a discreet smile creeping across her lips.

Derek looked up at her and smile. "I like her too. After all, she's my daughter. Right?" he chuckled.

Glancing at Meredith, he saw her eyes darkening at his comment. "I'm sorry," Derek apologized sincerely. "I didn't mean to sound inappropriate. It was just a joke."

Meredith smiled faintly and shook her head, reassuring him that no offense had been made. "That's ok. It's nice to see that someone is willing to say that about her," she muttered, her eyes glistering as she watched her baby. "When her father doesn't want her," she added and slowly turned her gaze out the window. She sounded rather angry than sad.

Derek smiled sympathetically at her and then at the baby he was holding, slightly outraged to hear that. How could anyone not want to be the father for such a sweet baby?

"You can count on my help you know," he said and smiled as he looked at her, waiting to meet her eyes.

But her gaze stayed out the window. "I don't need mercy. I don't deserve it," she said quietly and turned her head, smiling faintly. "Not when I know that I decided to have this baby just to piss him off."

Derek felt a little overwhelmed by her confession. He agreed she had made a wrong decision, but he couldn't deny how much she loved her baby and whatever she had done, she still wanted the best for her child.

"It's not about mercy," Derek said softly and smiled as he met her curiosity. "Imagine this… one day, while you are driving back from work, you meet someone who needs your help. You help that person and then you find out that she's your soon-to-be co-worker. Will you be able keep the relationship strictly professional?"

Meredith narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly. "Are you declaring me your love?"

Derek chuckled but stopped quickly as he saw her serious look. "No," he was now serious.

"What if that person is married or has someone?" she asked him.

Derek smiled. "More than strictly professional includes friendship too, Meredith, not necessary a relationship."

"Oh," she nodded and held out her hands. "Can I have her back?"

Derek leaned down and put the baby girl back in her mother's arms. Once again, he saw the proof of love in the way she smiled down at her. "Do have a name for her?" he asked her.

Meredith couldn't tear her eyes from her baby girl and just shook her head.

"There's nothing on the top of the list?" he asked her.

Meredith looked at him and shook her head again. "There is no list."

"Any ideas then?" he asked.

"Derek," Meredith groaned and rolled her eyes.

"She needs a name," Derek pointed out.

"Really?" she smiled sarcastically which made Derek chuckle.

"Yeah, really. Do you want me to help you find one?"

Meredith scowled at his insistence.

Derek smiled, confident. "Meredith?"

"What?" she asked, gritting her teeth.

"Do you want to be my friend?" he asked her, a big teasing smile on his face.

Meredith tried to keep her face composed, but failed as a smile crept on her lips.

Derek chuckled and winked at her, pleased to see who easily he convinced her.

"We can be friends," she smiled, rolling her eyes at his confidence.

"Great then," he grinned proudly.

"I wouldn't be so happy," she laughed and Derek felt his heart beating faster at the sound of that. "I didn't choose the right moment to move, so my things are still unpacked," she warned him, although she was just joking. She wasn't going to ask anybody's help.

"Unpacking," Derek shrugged. "That's piece of cake."

"Then there's the painting and baby's furniture," Meredith continued, laughing as Derek showed the same cheerful grin.

"I am a neurosurgeon, so the furniture- puzzle-thing is over before I can start enjoying myself," he smiled. "I should go home and get some sleep now, but I will come back and check on you later."

"I don't need to be checked on," Meredith frowned.

Derek smiled and leaned forward but stopped when he realized what he was going to do. He just smiled and rubbed lightly her arm. "I'll come visit you later, then," he said and caressed the baby's head before he stood up.

Her heart had started beating like crazy again, anticipating his lips against her skin, and felt slightly disappointed when Derek changed his mind.

"And try think of a name for her," he added as he walked to the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at her, smiling. "Bye," he lingered for a moment longer there and then closed the door.

"Bye," Meredith muttered only after Derek was out the room. The baby started fussing in her arms, asking for her attention. "Mommy…" her words chocked as she talked to the baby, having a strong feeling of pride as she called herself mommy. "Mommy has a new friend now," she said. "And he's nice and … and cute too," she giggled at her own confession.

Now the baby burst into tears. "Why are you crying?" Meredith held up the baby, worried. "How am going to understand you each time you cry?" she whimpered to herself and started rocking her back and forth. But the baby continued to cry.

Meredith sighed. "Crap," and reached for the button to call a nurse.


	4. Chapter 4

Later that day, Derek was in his lunch break when he decided to pay Meredith another visit. He bought some food for them, hoping that Meredith hadn't had lunch yet, and headed to the neonatology floor.

Derek peaked through the window to see Meredith sleeping. He sighed, a little disappointed, as it appeared that he was going to eat alone. As he made a step back from the door to walk away, Derek got an idea. He had also bought dessert for their lunch, so he could leave that in her room. Before he walked in, Derek took out two wrapped muffins and a napkin. Slowly he entered into the room, walking silently to her bed. Derek put the muffins on her nightstand and turned to walk outside. His hand remained on the doorknob as his eyes wandered around the hospital room. Something didn't look right. That room looked like… a hospital room. It was a hospital room, he admitted, but that was a hospital room from the maternity floor, so it was supposed to be decorated with flowers, balloons and teddy bears. It was supposed to be cheerful. But her room looked like any other room from the hospital.

There was just one flower bouquet on the nightstand beside her bed, probably from Dr. Webber- Derek thought. He suddenly felt sad. Was she so lonely? There was nobody else to send her a card or a flower besides her chief? Then he felt guilty. He was her friend now and he hadn't made any nice gesture yet.

Derek put the food pack on the table beside the door and walked outside.

--

Derek returned later to her and smiled. Meredith was holding her baby in her arms, watching how the nurse was arranging a flower bouquet beside another two. He gave a short knock as he opened the door.

"Hi," she greeted him with a smile and then her eyes shifted back on the flowers.

Derek smiled discreetly, pleased to see her awe. "Wow," he said, acting surprised.

"Yeah," Meredith muttered, confused.

The nurse finished with the arrangement and smiled at them as she walked outside.

"Someone sent me flowers," Meredith said, confused.

"You don't know who?" Derek asked as he walked over to her bed and leaned down to caress the baby's cheek.

Meredith looked at all the flowers that were decorating her room now. "No. They don't have a card."

"Secret admire already?" Derek chuckled.

"I don't know anyone here. Nobody knows me," Meredith pointed out.

Derek gave a look to the color variety given by the flowers and chuckled quietly. As his eyes wandered around the room, he saw that his lunch pack wasn't on the table anymore. "Did they throw away my food?" he frowned.

Meredith looked up at him, biting her lip.

"You ate it?" Derek laughed.

"I was hungry," Meredith said defensively. "Besides, why are you leaving your food in my room?" she frowned.

"That was for you actually," Derek half lied. "I am glad you liked it."

"Anything is better than the hospital food," she said, rolling her eyes. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked him, holding the baby upper.

Derek grinned, obviously thrilled with the offer. "Oh this is for the … no-name-baby," he laughed and handed her a pink gift bag.

Meredith stared at him, suspicious for a moment. "You sent me all these," she concluded.

Derek just smiled and put the bag onto her lap, while he leaned down and picked the baby up from her mother's arms.

"Hello, baby girl," he smiled down at the sleeping baby, slowly rocking her back and forth.

"Why did you do that?" she asked him, frowning.

Derek wasn't happy to hear the reproach in her voice. "Because I wanted to,"

"No, because you felt sorry for me," Meredith snapped, making the baby whimper.

"Shh," Derek rocked the baby to calm her down. "I do feel sorry for you but…"

"Don't," Meredith cut him off sharply. "I told you I don't deserve anyone's sympathy. I chose this way and now I have to go through it."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself," Derek frowned. "I don't know exactly what happened, but in case you haven't noticed yet, your book turned a new page," he said and showed her the baby. Meredith looked away and didn't reply. "Besides, I am your friend now," Derek said softly. "It would have been rude of me not to send you a flower."

"Or two, or three," Meredith added and as she looked at him, Derek saw her smile. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Derek smiled. "She's still-no-name?" he asked her, smiling down at the baby.

"Yeah," Meredith groaned. "There are so many names, but they're so common."

"Maybe you should name her Jane, like Jane Doe," Derek chuckled.

Meredith frowned at his joke. "Keep your suggestions for yourself."

"Ok," he laughed. "Is she a good baby?" he asked her while playing the baby's hand.

"She's great," Meredith smiled, looking at her baby. "She cries only when she's hungry and I changed her diaper just once," she said, smirking.

"Any parent's dream," Derek said.

"I guess so," she sighed.

"Do you mind if I ask you something personal?" Derek asked cautiously.

"Do I have any choice?" she grumbled.

"No," Derek admitted. "It's about your mother. How's Ellis Grey doing?" he asked her eagerly.

Meredith sighed and held out her arms to take the baby back. Derek frowned a little, but put the baby in her mother's arms. "She's teaching," Meredith answered.

"How come she's not here to see her granddaughter?" Derek asked then.

"I already told you," she replied, slightly irritated. "One of the people I wanted to piss off by carrying this pregnancy was my mother. She doesn't know I gave birth earlier either."

"So she's not very happy with the idea," Derek concluded.

Meredith smiled up at him. "You're so smart."

"Thanks," Derek laughed.

The baby cut in, crying.

"I think she's hungry," Meredith said, leaning forward a little to untie her gown. "Are you going already?" she asked Derek when she saw him standing up.

Derek looked, confused. "I will give you some privacy."

Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling. "You already saw the most intimate parts of my body. My breast is not that exciting."

Derek chuckled. "Are you sure?"

"I could need some company," Meredith muttered as she brought the baby to suck from her breast.

"I am enjoying your company, Meredith," Derek said softly. He pulled a chair and sat down beside her bed.

They stayed in silence and watched the baby eating, both of them smiling broadly at her.

"Can I burp her?" Derek asked her quickly after the baby finished her meal.

Meredith giggled and nodded, handing him a towel to put on his shoulder. Derek carefully took the baby and put her on his chest, rubbing gently onto her back.

"You're a weird man, Derek," Meredith said, watching the smile in his eyes as he carefully burped the baby.

"Why?" Derek asked smiled curiously.

Meredith shrugged. "Because of this," she said, pointing to him and the baby.

"I love babies, especially this baby. I was her midwife, wasn't I?" he grinned.

Meredith smiled faintly, but looked carefully at him. "I hope you're not planning on kidnapping my baby," she said quietly.

"Not right away," Derek laughed, but his laugh died quickly as he met her glare. "I am kidding, Meredith," he said defensively.

"Not very funny, Derek," she scolded. "I want her back," she demanded and held out her arms.

Derek sighed and put the baby in her arms. "I am not a dangerous man," he frowned, offended.

A wave of guilt swept through her. He could have kidnapped her baby by now if that's what he really wanted, she reconsidered her thought. "It's my job to be worried," she muttered, cradling the baby to her chest.

"I know," Derek smiled kindly. "I didn't mean to scare you. I guess I am a little… annoying, ain't I?"

"You're not annoying. I like your company. I guess I could need a friend," she said, her eyes on her daughter. "But you're also my boss and easy to… fall for. I don't want to make to the same mistake twice."

Derek didn't understand what exactly she was talking about. "We still can be friends, though I am your boss."

"Yeah," she smiled, but she didn't sound convinced.

"I should go back to work now," Derek sighed. "Can I visit you later?"

Meredith smiled and nodded. "Sure."

"Ok," he chuckled and caressed the baby's head. "Find her a name," he smiled as he stood up.

"I have to," she giggled.

Meredith rocked the baby in her arms until she fell asleep. She stood up and slowly put her in her crib. Then she saw the pink bag from Derek and remembered his present for her daughter. Meredith crawled back in the bed and took the bag. She took out a pink teddy bear, soft at touch. She saw then a small piece of paper tucked under the teddy's ribbon.

Meredith pulled out the paper and unfolded it. "Morgan," she read. "P.S. Do not kill the messenger."

Meredith laughed, shaking her head. She read the name again and looked at the baby. "Morgan?"


	5. Chapter 5

Derek had just left Meredith's room when his phone rang. Checking the ID, he recognized his best friend's number. Derek smiled and flipped his phone open. "Hey, Mark," he greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey, Shep," Mark chuckled. "What's new with you? You haven't called for weeks now."

"Jealous?" Derek laughed.

He heard Mark sighing. "Yeah."

"No worries, I am staying hetero," Derek replied with a chuckled.

"So what's new in Seattle? Who kept you so busy that you didn't have time to call your brother?" Mark asked.

"My patients," Derek answered.

Then he heard his friend groaning. "Are you making out with your patients now?"

"Shut up now," Derek warned him.

"Oh so you're still a monk," Mark laughed.

Derek laughed quietly, shaking his head. "What's new in New York?" he asked him.

"Nothing new," Mark sighed. "That's why I called you. I hoped that you would give me something spicy," he laughed.

Derek laughed along with him. "Well…" he cleared his throat, ready to share the Meredith moments.

"Oh this is good," Mark beamed. "Let me take a seat," and Derek heard him panting as he ran, probably to a chair. "Ok, so the door is locked, the light is turned off, I am alone in the room… don't skip anything. I want to hear every single detail."

"I don't think you want to hear every detail," Derek chuckled, knowing what his friend was thinking.

"Hell, I don't! I will never forgive you if you don't share everything,"

Derek rolled his eyes. In the meantime, he got into his office, so he closed the door and went to sit down at his desk. He was now ready to entertain Mark.

"I met a woman last night," he started.

"Oh so that's still fresh. Good go on,"

"You're going to feel sorry for asking me to tell you this," Derek smiled.

"Cut the crap and get to action," Mark groaned.

"Ok," Derek laughed. "So I met a woman,"

"Obviously," Mark cut in again.

"Shut up and let me tell you!" Derek snapped. "So I met a woman…"

"Can you please skip that part? You already made me think that you met three women," his friend chuckled.

"She was in labor," Derek continued and stopped, smiling as he waited for Mark's reply.

"Funny, now get to the serious stuff,"

Derek shook his head, smiling. "You really have no business at this hour?"

"If I am sitting here in my office listening stories about your sex life… obviously I don't have any business at his hour. Go on now,"

"She was in labor," Derek picked up his narration.

"Derek," Mark groaned.

"I was on my way to home," Derek ignored him.

"That's much better," Mark sighed.

Derek let out an exasperated sigh and continued. "When I saw a car pulled off the road and a woman looked like she was sick."

"So you're a hero now,"

"Shut up, Mark!" he snapped. "And then I saw she was in labor."

"Oh my God, you were serious about the laboring lady," Mark whimpered.

"Yes, I was. Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"No!"

Derek rolled his eyes and dropped the subject. "Then what else should I tell you to entertain you?"

"I don't know. Find something. You're a brain surgeon," Mark replied, a grin in his voice.

"Ok," he sighed again. "I will skip the part with how I helped that woman," he gritted his teeth as he heard Mark whimpering again. "That woman was Meredith Grey," Derek added. He waited for his friend's reaction again.

Apparently, that was surprising news indeed, because Derek couldn't even hear his friend breathing.

"What a coincidence, isn't it?" Derek chuckled. "I mean she just transferred herself from New York- the place where you work- to Seattle, where I work."

"Meredith Grey is in Seattle?" Mark asked, his voice sounded lifeless now. Derek found curious Mark's sudden change.

"Yes. You didn't know that?" Derek asked.

"No," Mark managed to mumble.

"Yeah, well she is here and she works for Seattle Grace now. I am telling you, it's so…ugh I can't even describe the situation. I mean, I helped her give birth. In her car. Oh and her baby…"

"Ok, stop there. I am not even a little bit interested," Mark cut in, grumpy.

"You don't even want to know how's the baby doing?" Derek insisted.

"I don't care and I don't want to hear!" Mark snapped angrily, making Derek look shocked.

"Are you two in a fight or something?" he asked Mark.

"We're in nothing, so drop it. You look very excited when you talk about her. Maybe you shouldn't," Mark replied bitterly.

"What's going on here?" Derek asked, slightly irritated by his friend's bitchiness. "Do you have a problem with Meredith?"

Mark was a second late with his answer. "No, but you should be careful. She's just looking for a Daddy right now."

"I don't know what is your problem with her… maybe you didn't get to bring her into your bed, but I am not going to stay away from her. I am not going to judge her before I get to know her. She seems like a fine woman to me," Derek answered.

"You know what? I will call you some other time when you'll get over your act of heroism. Was nice talking to you," Mark grumbled and snapped shut his phone.

Derek stared at his phone, dumbfounded. Was his friend that mean just because she didn't want to go into his bed?

He admitted. He didn't know anything about Meredith, but he was wiling to learn more about her.


	6. Chapter 6

Morgan happily wriggled her tiny fists in the air while her mother put her in her pink blanket, ready to take her home. As she stayed leaned over the bed, getting the baby ready for the road, Meredith rolled her eyes. "Ok, say it," she groaned and stood up, looking back over her shoulder to Derek.

Derek grinned and made a step forward from the doorway. "Her name is Morgan," he kept grinning at the fact that Meredith chose the name he had recommended.

"Morgan Ellis Grey," Meredith mumbled as she turned her torso so that she could face him.

"You named her after your mother?" Derek asked, surprised, already knowing the cold relationship between mother and daughter.

"My daughter will be a better person than her grandma is and I want the world to picture another Ellis when they hear this name,"

"That's nice," Derek smiled. "I am sure she'll come around," he added, trying to sound encouraging.

"I don't think so, but thanks," she answered with a slight smile and started throwing the few things she had on her nightstand into her bag. "Is it your mother's name?" Meredith asked him matter-of-factly.

"What?" He asked back, not understating what she was referring at.

"The name. How did you come up with it? Is it your mother's?" she asked him again.

Derek chuckled wickedly and shook his head. "No. Do you want to know how I found it though?" he asked her.

Meredith smiled, rolling her eyes at his enthusiasm. "I have the feeling that you're going to tell me, although I am not very curious," she shrugged.

"True," Derek chuckled, but he didn't say how he had found the name.

"So?" Meredith looked at him, waiting.

Derek grinned and moved fast to the door, his hand on the doorknob. "Take the baby in your arms," he suggested.

Meredith frowned. "Are you crazy?"

"No. I just want to make sure that you won't be able to attack me," he answered, smirking.

"Why would I attack you for a name?" she asked him, confused.

Derek kept grinning. "It's not about the name. It's about how I come up with."

"Derek, just tell me already," Meredith groaned.

"Take the baby first," he insisted.

Meredith sighed and took the baby into her arms, now waiting for Derek to say whatever he wanted to say.

"Ok," Derek chuckled. "I found it on the internet," he said.

"Really?" Meredith gasped sarcastically.

"And there's more," Derek replied. "I typed in the mother's first name and the … the midwife's first name," he said with a chuckle. "And based on our names origins and meanings, the database generated this name."

Meredith listened to his explanation, her face expressionless. She continued staring at him a moment longer after he finished explaining. "You're a freak," she muttered.

"Thanks," Derek chuckled at first, but his smile froze when he saw her serious expression. "I guess," he muttered under his breath.

"Thanks for the name anyway. It's lovely," Meredith smiled. "Now I have to go." She cradled the baby in one arm while she put the bag over her shoulder.

"I will give you a ride home," Derek said quickly and came to grab the bag off her shoulder.

"I called a cab, thanks," Meredith jerked her shoulder at his gesture.

"Are you going to ride with the baby in a cab?" Derek shook his head disapprovingly.

"People from the car rental weren't very happy to find out that someone gave birth into one of their cars, so yeah I am taking a cab. Oh and by the way, thank you for taking care of my car. Actually, thank you for all your help," she smiled and made a step aside to walk past him.

But Derek followed her and blocked her way. "And the flowers?" he asked, tilting his head towards one of the flower bouquets she still had in her room. "I will give you a ride home," he insisted. "And this way you can take all the flowers."

There was one thing that Meredith hated about Derek. The way he was smiling each time he was trying to get his way.

--

Derek pulled the car in front of Meredith's house. He quickly got out of the car and walked around it to open the door for Meredith, helping her out.

"I'll get the flowers and the bag for you," Derek offered, already taking Meredith's bag.

"That's fine," she insisted and took the bag off his hand.

Derek sighed disappointed as he understood. "I am not invited inside," he smiled sadly.

"I am sorry," she said quietly, unable to look into his eyes. "Maybe some other time," Meredith smiled apologetically at him. She took out the keys, put the bag on her shoulder and took the flowers from Derek. "Thank you… again," she smiled. "I really appreciate everything you've done for me."

Derek smiled, still disappointed, and touched her cheek for a split second. "So, can I come visit you and the baby?"

"As long as you don't move in," she giggled.

"Thank you. Take care of you and you know already…"

"I know," she smiled. "I will call you in case of emergency,"

"Or if you need anything," Derek added.

Meredith just nodded, smiling. "Good bye, Derek."

Derek leaned down and gave Morgan a soft kiss on the forehead. "Good bye, Meredith."

Meredith looked away quickly as she felt something wrong with her eyes. She turned and walked along the path towards her house, without any other glance to Derek. As she reached to the front door, Meredith noticed that her both hands were occupied and it was a little difficult for her to unlock the door.

Derek stayed, leaning against his cars and waiting for her to get inside. When he saw her trouble, Derek smiled to himself and hurried to help her. "I am just unlocking it," he smiled when she started.

Meredith smiled gratefully and waited for him to open the door. She walked inside and dropped the flowers on a small table beside the door. "Bye," she smiled at him and slowly closed the door.

"Bye," Derek sighed in front of the closed door.

**--**

**N/A: I know this was short. More tomorrow! Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

Meredith gazed out her window to the rain that was washing the dark street, already unconsciously rocking the baby back and forth in her arms with slow movements. When Morgan sighed, Meredith's gaze broke. She looked down at her baby and smiled. Then she looked at the clock and sighed. It was nearly 5 o'clock in the morning and Morgan had just decided to fall asleep.

She slowly stood up from the windowsill and carried the baby back to her bed. Meredith lay down beside her, her hand slowly rubbing against the baby's tiny chest. "Baby Morgan," she whispered, talking to her girl. "When you see dark outside, it means that we have to sleep. We sleep all night and then we wake up when the sun is up on the sky. I know it's confusing because you're only three weeks old and you haven't seen too much sun yet, but trust me… this is how things go around here."

The baby kept sleeping peacefully as if her mother's lecture would have been a lullaby.

Meredith sighed and rearranged the pillow beside the baby so that she wouldn't fall off the bed and then she drew the blanket over them and lay down with Morgan. Her eyes gazed out the window again and now the rain seemed to reflex in her eyes. She wasn't supposed to be lonely anymore, but she felt lonelier than ever. She wiped her cheek and took a deep breath. She had chosen this way so she was going to suck it up and move on. Meredith watched her baby until the 3 sleepless hours she had spent with Morgan that night wore her out and she drifted to sleep.

Later, Meredith was struggling with her bag, which constantly was falling off her shoulder, and with Morgan, who was sleeping in her arms. She sighed and ran the back of her hand over her forehead to wipe the perspiration. She watched how the elevator was dragging down to the main lobby while she tapped the foot against the floor, hoping for it to move faster so that she could get outside and get some air. With each stop, Meredith took a deep breath, feeling refreshed for a second only. She was having two more floors to go when the door opened and someone's face lit up.

"Meredith," Derek smiled and walked inside as soon as the other passengers got off.

"Derek," Meredith smiled.

His smile turned instantly into worry as he noticed her tired look. Her face was still glowing, but her eyes looked extremely tired. "Is everything all right with you and Morgan?"

"Yes, it is," Meredith just nodded.

"May I ask you what are you doing here?" Derek insisted.

"Do I have to give you a report?" Meredith snapped angrily, causing Morgan to fuss in her arms. "Shh," she whispered to the baby and rocked her slowly.

Derek was caught off guard by her burst. "I am sorry," he apologized quietly.

Meredith sighed as the guilt washed over and tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Meredith," Derek said softly and stopped the elevator. Gesture that made her throw a fist in his arm.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "I have a baby in here," she scowled.

"Meredith, what's wrong?" Derek kept the tone of his voice calm. "We're friends, remember?"

Another tears rolled down her cheeks then. "It's nothing," she sobbed.

Derek gently slid his hands under the baby and took her into his arms. As he cradled Morgan with one arm, he wrapped his other one around Meredith.

"I'm just very tired," she sobbed into his shoulder as she clenched on him.

"Shh," Derek rubbed circles over her back, soothing her. "I know. It's not easy, but it will get better."

"When… she'll go to… to college?" Meredith sobbed.

Derek chuckled. "No. I am sure it's going to be sooner," he reassured her with a lighter tone and kissed her on the cheek.

Slowly she started calming down and she was able to hold back her tears. Meredith stepped back and wiped her face, sniffing. "Try to ignore what just happened."

"If that makes you feel better," he smiled.

"It does," she smiled back.

"Ok, then. I will ignore it," he chuckled. "So she's a night person, huh?" Derek smiled down at Morgan.

"She is," she sighed. "Can you let the elevator go now?"

Derek showed the intention of doing it, but his finger froze over the button. "Have lunch with me."

"Derek," Meredith groaned. "I asked you to ignore my minor burst."

"I already forgot about it," Derek grinned. "I want you to have lunch with me," he insisted and gave her a pleading smile.

Meredith giggled like a teenager and wiped her eyes. "Let's make it fast because Morgan will be asking for her meal soon and I am only carrying it packed," she smiled, her brows motioning down to her chest.

Derek laughed cheerfully and let the elevator go. "I can only offer you hospital food, so we'll be done with it quickly."

"Can I have Morgan back?" she asked him, holding out her hands.

Derek smiled curiously. "Are you asking me the permission?"

"Derek," Meredith just smiled and slid her hands under the baby.

"So why are you here?" Derek insisted.

Meredith rolled her eyes, this time smiling. "I wanted Dr. Henderson to see Morgan."

"I knew there was something wrong with her," Derek frowned.

"She's perfectly healthy," she reassured him. "I just wanted to make sure that her insomnia has nothing to do with any disease."

"Aww you are one of those moms," Derek laughed.

"And I am proud to be one of those moms," Meredith sniffed.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," he smiled.

The cafeteria looked crowded at that hour, when Meredith and Derek walked inside. Derek stopped beside the entrance and sighed disappointedly as he looked around. "It's a little too loud," he said.

Meredith just smiled and walked ahead. "She's a night person, remember?" she looked back over her shoulder.

Derek chuckled and sped up to catch up with her. "Go find us a table and I'll buy the food. Anything in particular?" he asked her what she preferred to have for lunch.

"No," she shook her head.

While Derek went to buy their food, Meredith scanned the surroundings, looking for a private table. Part of the hospital staff knew her already and she knew that most of them had heard about the Baby Shepherd incident, so she tried not to catch any curious eye.

There weren't many choices for her, but she did spot a free table in a corner of the room. She waved back to Derek and pointed towards the table to know where he would find her.

Meredith pulled one more chair beside hers and dropped Morgan's bag in it. As she sat down, Meredith noticed some curious faces, staring at her. "Oh great," she sighed. She stood up and looked around, wishing to get rid of the curious stares as soon as possible. However, the luck wasn't on her side this time. She sighed and sat down reluctantly, shifting her chair to have her back half-turned to the stares.

Meredith looked down at Morgan and smiled. She was sleeping so peacefully, no laugh and no shout seemed to get to her ear. Meredith leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead, feeling calmer once she felt her daughter's warmth.

"Chicken salad and a tea," Derek said, placing a tray in front of Meredith.

"That's it?" Meredith frowned.

"We have to watch for your silhouette," Derek chuckled, sitting down across from Meredith. As he glanced up at her, Derek met her glare. Apparently, he wasn't a good joker. "Do you want me to go and buy you something else?" he asked her, serious.

"So that you can call me fat later?" Meredith spat.

Derek chuckled and muttered under his breath. "Hormones."

"What did you say?" she scolded.

"I am happy to be your friend," Derek chuckled. He leaned over the table and opened the lid to Meredith's salad, pushing it closer to her. "I can hold her for you," he said, his eyes gazing at Morgan.

"You didn't wash your hands," Meredith answered and stabbed her fork into the salad.

Derek stared at her, offended. "I am a doctor, Meredith."

Meredith shrugged as she took a bite from her food. "You just bought lunch so you put your hands on dirty money."

"Fair money," Derek corrected her quickly, amused. "And what are you going to do? Spit food all over her?" Derek leaned back in his chair, smiling as Meredith looked down and checked her baby.

Meredith nervously threw her fork into the casserole and stood up. "How are you going to eat then?" she furrowed her brows.

Derek smiled as he pushed his tray towards her. "I had something earlier, but I needed an excuse to invite you to lunch."

Meredith rolled her eyes and tried to hide her smile. "Don't touch her face or her hands."

Derek laughed, finding amusing her restrictions, and stood up to take Morgan in his arms.

"Aren't you worried of what people might say about this?" Meredith asked him.

Derek gave her a genuine smile. "They talk even if they don't see us together."

Meredith sighed, knowing he was right. She could have said no to his invitation, why didn't she do it? She reluctantly picked up her fork and started eating again.

"So…" Derek cleared his throat conversationally. "Has life settled for you already here in Seattle?" he asked her.

Meredith just nodded as she kept eating. As she glanced up at him and saw Derek holding one of Morgan's tiny hands, she rolled her eyes, but stayed quiet.

"Nothing new from your mother?" he asked her and Meredith shook her head in response. "Meredith, you really don't have any family here?"

Meredith groaned, glaring at him. "No," she grumbled.

"Tell me you have at least one friend here," Derek smiled genuinely.

Meredith looked into his eyes for a moment and then looked down as she nodded. "I do," she muttered. She just didn't want him to know that he was her only friend.

"She has grown so much," Derek said, smiling at Morgan.

"She's only 3 weeks old," Meredith replied.

Derek smiled at her and shook his head, disapproving her answer. "You see her everyday, so you can't tell. You know…" he hesitated, smiling rather uncomfortable.

Meredith almost chocked with the food, knowing what he was going to say. She put her fork down and took a sip from her tea, all this time avoiding Derek's gaze.

"I came to see you ... twice," Derek said softly, without any reproach as Meredith had expected. "But you didn't answer," his disappointment came with the addition.

Meredith cleared her throat and flashed him a faint smile. "Probably I was sleeping or uh I was with Morgan."

Derek smiled reassuringly, but he knew she was lying. "I am not forcing you to be my friend, Meredith," he said, his voice was calm. "You can choose whoever you want as friend."

"Why do you want to be my friend?" she asked him, straight.

Derek smiled and his smile was sad now. "I divorced last year and then I came here. I have nobody here, so this hospital is like my home. Though this place is huge, only the work is my friend."

Meredith looked away, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to water her eyes again. Their stories were so alike. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, in attempt of calming down. "We're home tonight," she said quietly, her eyes shyly peaking to Derek.

Derek had a big smile on his face.

"Bring dinner with you," Meredith added.

"I'll stop by the most expensive restaurant in Seattle," Derek promised. Meredith smiled, displeased. "And I will buy a lot of food," Derek added, chuckling. "Maybe I will stock your refrigerator."

"That wouldn't be bad," Meredith giggled. She felt more relaxed now. Derek was right; people were talking about them anyway and she needed a friend. One thing she knew for sure, she couldn't allow Derek to become more than her friend. She already had a child and she didn't even finish her year as surgical intern.

--

Meredith tucked the baby with another pillow to her side and smiled as she leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Now Baby Morgan, don't wake up while Mommy is taking a shower, ok?" Baby Morgan wriggled her tiny nose and sighed in her sleep. Meredith giggled and leaned down to kiss her again. "I am going to leave the door open to the bathroom, so scream if you need me. I know you can do it," she told her and then she slowly got out of the bed. "Derek is coming to see us and you don't want Mommy to scare her only friend away."

As she had promised to Morgan, Meredith left the bathroom door opened and she stepped under the shower. It was still early in the afternoon and she didn't expect Derek to show up any time soon; therefore, she decided to fill the bathtub with hot water and relaxing bubbles. It felt good. She wasn't back at work yet, but she was tired as if she had been. Staying up all night with the baby and struggling to read some of the medical books for her exam, Meredith felt her body tensed most of the time.

Lying there and enjoying the silence, Meredith slowly drifted to sleep. She stirred awake when she heard the doorbell. Confused and surprised, Meredith glanced out the small window, checking if she had slept for too long. There was still light outside and judging from her slight headache, Meredith was sure she hadn't slept longer than 5 minutes; besides, the water was still hot.

The doorbell rang again, this time with more insistence. "You idiot," she gritted her teeth as she stumbled out of the bathtub. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her as she walked out of the bathroom. The doorbell rang again, shorter this time but enough to make Morgan whimper. "Crap," Meredith muttered and hurried to calm her down. "Back to sleep, baby. I am going to smack the idiot's head, don't worry," she whispered, caressing gently Morgan's chest. Morgan sighed as she calmed down and Meredith sighed as well.

She wrapped the towel tighter around her as she walked out of the bedroom. She was climbing down the stairs when the doorbell rang again. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" she almost yelled as she walked to the door.

Meredith was ready to say some sweet words to whoever was at her door, but her words got stuck in her throat as she saw Derek standing on her porch. She remembered to breathe when she felt her towel loosening from around her body. Meredith started and wrapped her arms around the towel, holding it securely. "Derek," she breathed out.

Derek was left speechless by the view in front of his eyes. Her skin was glowing because of the water that was still dripping off her body and was matching with her messy hair, which had wet strands now. "Hi," Derek smiled, his eyes staring at the shape of her breasts.

Meredith giggled and wrapped herself better in her towel. She cleared her throat and suddenly she remembered. She was mad of him because of the way he had decided to harass her doorbell. "What is wrong with you?" she snapped at him. "Did you forget that I have a baby in here?"

"Sorry," Derek smiled apologetically, clearing his throat and avoiding to look at her skin. "But she's a night person."

"Derek," Meredith spat.

"Sorry," he laughed. "I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't ignore my visit again."

"I was in the bathroom," she explained.

"Obviously," Derek chuckled and just glanced down at her body.

"Oh just come inside," she stepped aside and let him in the house. "What are you doing here so early?" she asked him then as she remembered the early hour.

"I got off from work earlier. My last surgery was canceled," Derek answered, stepping inside. "I didn't buy dinner," he admitted. "But I can cook."

Meredith smiled and shook her head. "You should have come later then."

"No. I wanted to see my girl," Derek grinned at her. "Is she sleeping?"

"Your girl?" Meredith folded her arms across her chest.

Derek chuckled. "I birthed her," he pointed out.

"Really?" Meredith laughed. "Oh well, I guess I am curious to see your vagina now."

"You are?" Derek gasped, excited and took a step towards her.

Meredith realized how that had sounded. "Shut up," she giggled. "I pushed her out so I birthed her."

"But I was there to catch her," he remembered her. "And let's not forget that for a few hours she had my name."

"Yeah but she's still mine," she pointed out. "She's upstairs sleeping."

"Can I go see her?" Derek asked excitedly.

Meredith was tempted to say yes, but then she remembered that Morgan was sharing the same room with her. "I need to change my clothes first."

"Don't change them. I like these," Derek teased her.

"Funny guy," Meredith smiled.

"I will wash my hands and then you can show me her room while you change your clothes," Derek suggested.

"Derek," Meredith groaned.

"Please," he smiled pleadingly.

Meredith felt a limp in her throat and again she felt her heart drumming inside her chest as Derek smiled like that. "Follow me," she gave in and motioned for him to follow her upstairs.

Meredith led him into her room, where Morgan was still sleeping in the middle of the bed.

"Try not to wake her up though," she suggested as she walked over to her closet and looked for clean clothes.

Derek paused in the doorway for a brief second, a little surprised to see that Morgan wasn't sleeping in her crib. Then he found it cute how Meredith loved to have her baby close to her.

"The bathroom is over there," Meredith pointed to her bathroom.

Derek smiled and nodded as he followed her direction. He washed his hands- as Meredith had asked him to do- and then he returned in the bedroom. Derek lay down on the bed beside Baby Morgan, just smiling as he watched her sleeping. After just a little while, Morgan started whimpering quietly and fussing, so Derek stood up quickly and picked her up into his arms.

"You're not scared of me, are you?" he started talking to Morgan. "Have you forgotten me already? I am Derek," he spoke softly and Morgan seemed to recognize or like his voice because she calmed down and continued to sleep peacefully. "So, you remember me," Derek smiled as he paced around the room, slowly rocking her.

With Morgan in his arms, a pink teddy bear caught Derek's eyes. Derek smiled as he saw the bear on one of the nightstands beside the bed. Then, another teddy bear- smaller but still pink- caught his attention and Derek paid more attention to the room. There were baby clothes pilled up in one of the chairs, diapers and other baby care products, all along with Meredith's medical books. Derek's first impression: Meredith was a very messy person.

"You'd better not learn this from your Mommy," Derek whispered in Morgan's ear. "Do you think she will get mad if we go see your room?" he asked her, but then he smiled to himself. "It's not her room, is it? It's your room and I am sure that you don't mind."

Baby Morgan sleepily ran her tiny fist over her face and Derek smiled as he took her gesture as an answer. He walked out of Meredith's bedroom and paused in the hall as he listened to the water coming from Meredith's other bathroom. "She can take her time," Derek whispered to Morgan.

Derek felt a little disorientated as he looked around him. He didn't know exactly which one was Morgan room and he didn't want to be indiscreet and peaked in all the rooms. Therefore, he stayed and thought. The nearest room was the one across from hers and he thought that should be the room. Derek opened the door and his eyes grew huge as he looked inside. It was indeed Morgan's room, but it didn't look like anyone was sleeping in there. The walls had been painted in nice tones of lilac, simple but with a calming mixture of color. The only furniture standing in there was a pink small closet. Leaned against one of the walls were parts of what was supposed to be Morgan's crib, beside them a carpet had been rolled up.

Derek lifted Morgan and kissed her softly on the forehead. "I see that you're redecorating in here," he whispered. Derek walked out of the room when he heard the bathroom door opening.

"What were you doing in there?" Meredith frowned as she saw him walking out of Morgan's room.

Derek answered with a reproaching frown. "And you wonder why she doesn't sleep at night. She has no place to sleep."

Meredith glared as she came and slid her hands under the baby, taking her from Derek's arms. "She has a bed to sleep in," she grumbled.

"She needs her own place, Meredith," Derek pointed out.

"And what were you doing in there?" Meredith scolded him. "It's still considered rude to barge into people's rooms," she hissed as she turned around and carried Morgan into her bedroom. She slowly put her on the bed and tucked the pillows around her.

As she stood up, she saw Derek leaning against the doorframe and smiling genuinely. "I didn't feel inspired enough to arrange her room," she said quietly. "Besides I have a lot to study for the test."

As he heard that, Derek smiled and rolled his sleeves up. "If you had let me inside earlier I would have spared you of many sleepless nights."

Meredith tried to ignore his comment. Slowly she walked towards him and put her hands on his chest, pushing him out of her bedroom. She quietly closed the door and then folded her arms across her chest, staring at Derek. "What are you waiting for?" she asked.

Derek grinned and turned on his heels, walking in Morgan's room. Meredith's study books were everywhere, so she picked one and followed Derek inside, sliding down against the wall, ready to study and supervise Derek in the same time.

Meredith bit her lip to hide her smile each time she glanced at Derek or heard him cursing. Apparently, building up a crib wasn't a boring puzzle as Derek had thought it would be. Neither of them kept the track of the time, so Meredith was surprised to see that the light was fading outside and the room was getting darker. She stood up and went to turn on the light. As she flicked the light on, Derek squealed victoriously, making Meredith shriek, scared.

"Sorry," Derek chuckled, grinning. "I made it!" he beamed pointing to the standing crib in front of him.

"Yay," Meredith beamed sarcastically. "That was quit a challenge, huh?"

Derek frowned at first but his face turned bright again as he smiled at her. "It was," he admitted. Meredith came to his side, giving a closer look. She had to admit that the exterior looked exactly like in the model picture. "It was easy," Derek shrugged smugly.

"Was it?" Meredith asked as she leaned over the crib. "Then why does the mattress rise up and down? Are you trying to break her ribs?" she scolded.

Derek smugly smile faded instantly as he leaned over and looked inside the crib.

Meredith groaned, rolling her eyes, and propped her hands against the mattress. As she pressed a little more power against it, the mattress knuckled under her pressure. "Fuck," Meredith shrieked in pain as the edge of the mattress fell on her foot.

"Why did you have to do that?" Derek reproached, sliding an arm around hers to give her more support.

"Why?" Meredith yelled and threw a fist in his chest. "You could have killed my daughter."

"You're overreacting," Derek replied.

"Am I?" Meredith continued yelling. "I guess we also found out that the screws weren't well tight," she lowered the tone of her voice and she felt the pain fading, so she jerked her arm from Derek's grip. "She will grow up and when she will be able to stand, she'll start jumping," she explained calmer.

"I was going to check them," Derek muttered, offended.

"When? After Morgan was landing under the crib?"

Meredith just shook her head and started taking each screw out of the crib that Derek had tried to build. Derek wanted to tell her to give up as he would do it the next day, but then he decided not piss her off even more. Therefore, he took Meredith's previous seat on the floor and picked up her book, convinced that they would be in there at least until Morgan wakes up. Derek put the book the book aside soon as he saw how fast the crib was starting looking like a crib.

"How did you do this?" Derek asked in awe when Meredith smiled and pointed to the crib.

"I never said I couldn't do it," Meredith giggled. "I just never felt inspired, but now seeing you blowing it off after you had just bragged about how great you were…" Meredith smiled and shrugged. "The inspiration struck me."

Derek chuckled and shook his head. "You're a strange woman, Meredith."

"I am strange?" Meredith giggled. "You're the one stalking a single mom."

"I am not stalking you," Derek replied defensively. Meredith raised a brow knowingly. "I wouldn't call it stalking," he smiled.

Meredith was ready to give him a reply when Morgan started crying. Both hurried outside and Meredith went to pick her baby up from the bed. As Meredith took her into her arms, Morgan calmed down and just started fussing in her arms.

"Is she hungry?" Derek asked her as he came by her side and caressed Morgan's head. Morgan looked at her mother and then her blue eyes watched Derek. She looked back at her mother and smiled, wriggling her hands in the air.

"She smiled," Meredith said quietly, her voice being overwhelmed by the moment.

"Is it for the first time?" Derek asked, surprised.

Meredith gazed down at her baby girl and shook her head. "No, but… this time it looked different."

"Are you sure she's not hungry?" Derek asked her.

"She's not," Meredith leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Then why did she start crying?" he insisted.

Meredith looked at him and rolled her eyes. "I am her mother. If she is hungry, China can hear her scream."

"You're overreacting," Derek laughed and slid his hands under the baby, taking her from her mother's arms, this time without asking for Meredith's permission.

Meredith wanted to say something about it, but then she changed her mind. It looked natural now to see Derek cradling her baby girl. She let her arms fell to her side and smiled as she watched them.

"I am overreacting a little," she smiled at him. "China can't hear her, but Mexico can."

Morgan let out a whimper as she frowned.

"Don't worry," Derek laughed. "I don't believe her," he said to the baby and kissed her on the forehead.

Meredith remembered then about their dinner. "I won't cook for you. You invited yourself here tonight," she warned him.

Derek gave her one of his best genuine smiles. "You invited me, but I am not going to argue with you about this, so I will make something for us."

Meredith took the baby from Derek and cradled her to her chest. "I will show you where the kitchen is, but you'll have to do it by yourself because I want to give her a bath."

"A bath?" Derek asked, his face lightened up by excitement. "I want to help."

"How about dinner?"

"Are you hungry?" Derek asked her, obviously telling her to say no.

"No," Meredith giggled.

"Great," he beamed. "Me neither. Let's give Morgan a bath," he suggested and pointed towards Meredith's bathroom.

"Ok," Meredith watched him, smiling so hard that her cheeks were hurting her. "She has her own bathtub. It's in the bathroom. Can you set it up?"

Derek nodded, thrilled to take part to such a big event like giving Morgan a bath and walked ahead into the bathroom. Derek set up the bathtub and filled it with water, carefully checking its temperature, while Meredith undressed the baby.

"Hold her," Meredith said and put Morgan in Derek's arms, walking then to the cabinet and taking out two bottles. She poured a little from each bottle and as she pressed a button, bubbles started mixing the two essences into the water.

"She has her own Jacuzzi?" Derek laughed.

Meredith smirked at him. "God bless the internet. I am broke now but my daughter is enjoying a Jacuzzi bath."

Derek smiled, but he did it with slight disagreement. "Was it necessarily?"

Meredith sighed as he asked her that. "I though it was," she admitted. "I even bought her lavender and vanilla essences to help her sleep at night."

He looked at her, smiling as if he was smiling at someone innocent and who did something wrong. "And it has never really occurred to you that she might be able to sleep because she doesn't have her own bed?"

"Shut up," Meredith giggled and took Morgan from him, carefully placing her into the water.

Derek knelt beside the bathtub, rolling a towel, and put it under Morgan's head to keep it up above the water while Meredith was slowly splashing water over the baby. "Can you give me her soap?" she asked Derek.

Derek was obviously more that thrilled to help her. "Which one is hers?" he asked.

"A pink one," Meredith answered, smiling down at Morgan –who was looking at her mother with curious eyes. Meredith tickled her under the chin and Morgan answered with a delighted smile. "She's so wonderful," Meredith said to herself, contemplating at her baby.

"No doubt of that," Derek agreed as he came by Meredith's side.

Meredith held out her hand for him to give her the soap. Derek showed the intention of giving it to her at first, but then he pulled his hand back and held the soap.

"Can I have it, please?" Meredith insisted, slightly irritated. "The water is getting cold."

"I want to wash her," he grinned.

"That's not possible," Meredith shook her head firmly. "Now give me the soap," she demanded.

"Why isn't it possible?" Derek frowned, standing up.

"Derek," Meredith moaned and stood up as well, determined to take the soap off his hand.

"I want to wash her. Please!" Derek insisted, hiding his hand to back so that Meredith couldn't reach to it. "You get to wash her and change her and feed her and play her anytime you want."

"Obviously, because she is my child," Meredith rolled her eyes. "And considering how the things are right now… I am sure you'll get the chance to give her a bath."

Derek couldn't help but grin at her statement. "Will I?" he kept grinning, but also hiding the soap to back.

"Yes," she rolled her eyes. "I want the soap now."

"No," Derek refused firmly.

"Derek!" Meredith snapped at him.

"Meredith," Derek groaned pleadingly.

"No!" she retorted. "And you know what? I have more soaps," she smiled and went to take another soap out of the cabinet. As she turned around to go back to Morgan, Meredith gasped outraged when she saw Derek washing the baby already.

"What do you think you're doing?" she scolded and grabbed his arm.

"Meredith," Derek protested and jerked his arm off her hand, making the soap slip out of his hand.

He stood up, his hands on his hips, glaring at her. Meredith adopted the same attitude and both exchanged glares.

Feeling ignored and probably getting cold, Morgan started screaming.

"Look what you've done," Meredith scolded Derek as she knelt down to Morgan. "That's ok, Baby Morgan. We'll be done soon." She rolled up her sleeves and looked through the water for the soap. As she found it, Meredith held it up to Derek, without looking at him.

Derek smiled and took the soap from her, kneeling beside her. Meredith let him wash her while she gave him assistance. Once the bath was over, Meredith helped Derek dress Morgan.

"We smell delicious now," Derek chuckled, sinking his nose in Morgan's skin as he carried her back into the bedroom.

Ever since the grown-ups were struggling to dress her, Morgan started fussing and whimpering. This time, Derek had no calming effect over her and she started crying and fussing even more.

"She's hungry," Meredith said, carefully taking her from Derek's arms. Meredith sat on the bed, leaning her back against the headboard and lifted her top so that she could feed Morgan. As she found her mother's nipple, the silence fell back over the house.

"Do you mind if I stare?" Derek asked, already sitting down at Meredith's feet.

"At my breasts?" she giggled.

"My intention is to watch her eating but considering the fact that she's eating from your breast, then yeah… at your breast," Derek chuckled. "Do you mind?" he asked her again.

She smiled at him and shook his head.

Derek crawled to Meredith's side and propped himself on his elbow, gently caressing Morgan's head. "This look so…" he contemplated at the view but he couldn't find the right word. He smiled as he saw Meredith looking questioningly at him. "It looks so sacred. Can you believe what men do to these?" he asked, sounding outraged.

Meredith couldn't help but laugh. "I know. They do amazing things."

"I don't think I will be able to do anything to them from now on," Derek stated, clearly staring at her breasts now.

"Are you talking about my breasts now or about breasts in general?" Meredith laughed.

"You don't mind the subject, do you?" Derek chuckled teasingly. He leaned down and kissed Morgan on the forehead. As he did that, Morgan threw a fist into his face. "This isn't the first time that she punches me," he complained.

"I don't know the reason she punched you before but I am almost positive that right now she didn't like to see you so close to her meal," Meredith giggled.

"I was close, wasn't I?" Derek laughed.

Meredith hit him with her leg, laughing. "You're my friend now, right?" she looked at him, smiling, but also serious.

"Of course we are," Derek smiled genuinely. "We're the best buddies."

"Ok," she giggled.

"Why?" he asked her, sensing that there was something serious she wanted to say.

Meredith shyly peaked at him and then smiled down at Morgan. "I talked to my lawyer and… I want Morgan's full custody. He is going to contact him soon."

"The father?" Derek asked, although he knew she was talking about Morgan's father.

"The man," Meredith corrected him, slightly angry just at the thought of calling that man a father.

"I am sorry," he smiled apologetically. "Do you think he is going to agree with it?"

"I am sure of it. Besides, this is … an interesting way of announcing him of the baby's sex," she smiled.

Derek had to admit that everything she was telling him was surprising. "Do I know him?" he asked her. "I think you told me once that he worked at the hospital with you."

Meredith nodded. "I am sure you know him, but…" she added quickly when she saw him wishing to find out more. "I am not going to tell you. There's no point. He's part of the past now."

"Not entirely," Derek disagreed. "You have a daughter with him and as long as you have her, he is part of your present."

"No, he is not," she spat, making Morgan whimper. She patted her on the back, rocking her slowly. "Once he quits at his parental rights, he will be part of the past."

"I am not judging you," he said softly, caressing Morgan's head. "But sometimes you just need to know how to protect yourself if you're not able to keep your pants on." as he said that, Derek could feel an intense glare coming from Meredith. "I am not judging you," he reassured her. "You made a mistake and now you're dealing with its consequences. I think you're doing a great job here. But there are other people who might not … handle something like this so well. For example, my friend Mark."

Meredith felt the blood rushing to her head and her breathing stopped as she heard that name.

"He is very… dissolute. He likes women and … sex. I don't see him handling very well a situation like yours," Derek continued, not noticing Meredith's reaction to that name. "Do you know Mark, right?" he asked her, suddenly curious.

Meredith could feel her head spinning. Was he talking about the same Mark she knew?

"Mark Sloan," Derek cleared up. "I am sure you know him because the strangest thing happened when he called me a while ago and I wanted to talk to him about you."

"Talk to him about me?" she spat. "Why would you want to do that?"

Derek became suspicious at her attitude. He stood upright and looked carefully at her. "What's going on between you and Mark Sloan?" he asked her straight.

"Nothing," she answered sharply.

"There is something," Derek contradicted her. "He had the same reaction as you're having now. You're angry with each other. What happened? Have you two gotten into a disagreement or what?"

"Yes," she answered. "He is a jackass and … and if you ever watched him teaching his interns then you know what I am talking about," Meredith muttered, letting Derek understand that whatever problems she had with Mark Sloan were professional only.

"I know that, but why is he mad of you? What have you done to him?" he asked her.

Meredith looked down at her answer, but Derek couldn't read it. "How well do you know each other?" she asked quietly.

"He's like a brother to me," Derek answered sincerely.

Meredith swallowed a lump and glanced at Derek. "He didn't tell you?"

"No. He didn't want to hear anything about you," Derek became even more curious now.

"Nothing at all?" she asked.

"No. Meredith, we are friends. We can talk about it if you feel like you need to. He is my friend but you are my friend too. I won't take sides," Derek said softly.

"I rather not talk about this," she muttered. She looked into his eyes and smiled faintly. "I don't blame him for anything. I was aware of what I was doing and he told me straight that he didn't want me to keep the baby."

"You're talking about Morgan's father now," Derek concluded.

"Morgan's man," she corrected him.

Derek chuckled a little. "That sounds weird."

Meredith chuckled along with him. "The man," she corrected herself.

"So you're not going to tell me what you have done to Mark," he smiled. "It must be something very ugly."

Meredith looked down at Morgan again. "I don't know how ugly it is. It was ugly my gesture, but … what I did was not ugly."

"Ok, you lost me there," Derek laughed. He came by Meredith's side and leaned his back against the headboard. "Did you sleep with him?" he asked her, quietly as if he was ashamed of his own question.

Meredith bit her lip to keep it from trembling as she watched her baby.

"I am not judging you," he reassured her once again as he got his answer.

"Do you want to burp her?" she asked him, handing him the baby and trying to avoid the imminent question.

Derek's face became a grin at her suggestion and Meredith sighed discreetly, relieved of having him distracted from their conversation.

"You're good with babies," she smiled, watching the careful and loving way he was holding Morgan.

"I love babies," Derek smirked.

"How come you don't have at least three then?" she asked.

Derek smiled, but this time his smile was sad. "It was never the right time for my ex-wife."

"Sad," Meredith sighed, staring at her hands. "Did you talk to her about it?"

"She aborted one," Derek muttered, gently caressing Morgan's back. He flipped her into his arms and started rocking her back and forth.

Meredith shyly touched his arm and gave him a comforting squeeze. Derek answered with a reassuring smile. "My time will come," he said.

"I am sure it will," she smiled back. "She's sleeping already," she whispered as she looked at Morgan, who was sleeping in Derek's arms.

They stood there without talking and just watching the baby sleeping. Meredith was thinking of what other jokes fate had prepared for her. There she was, standing with the brother of her daughter's father. Everything made her feel dizzy. She couldn't be friend with Derek now. … Could she? While Meredith was lost in her thoughts, Derek was having his owns. Spending an amazing evening with Meredith and her even more amazing daughter, he wondered how anyone could not want to be part of their life. Then his thoughts flew back in time when his ex-wife had announced him about the abortion she took.

Later that evening, Meredith walked Derek to the door. As he got outside on the porch, Derek turned and smiled at Meredith. He leaned his side against the doorframe, wishing to delay his departure. "Thank you for the great evening, Meredith! And for the sandwiches."

Meredith giggled as her cheeks turned pink. "That's all I could do for you."

"I helped you with Morgan's room so now you owe me a dinner," Derek smiled, trying his luck.

And the luck was on his side. "I guess I do owe you," she smiled.

"I am coming tomorrow to help you study," Derek promised as he pushed himself from the doorframe.

Her heart stopped when Derek stroked her cheek and leaned forward. Her mind was in haze as she felt his warm breath against her forehead, but became all clear once he pulled back. She hated herself in that moment for the fact that she couldn't feel his lips against her skin. She hated herself, because she couldn't start anything with Derek. Not after she found out who was his best friend. That would be wrong and unfair to Derek.

Derek smiled as he ran his thumb against her cheek and reluctantly let it drop it off her skin. "I will see you tomorrow."

Meredith swallowed a lump. She shouldn't accept his visits anymore. "Ok," she nodded and hated herself once more.

Derek didn't move. He was still there, his smile lingering over her face. "Bye," he stirred himself from his gaze and waved.

"Bye," she smiled and slowly closed the door. She leaned her forehead against it and waited until she heard his car leaving her driveway. "You're so stupid, Meredith," she muttered under her breath.

She returned upstairs and walking past Morgan's room, she made a turn and entered into the room. She walked over to the crib –which Derek had placed it by the wall across the window- and leaned down to pick Morgan up. Meredith carried her to the window where her rocking chair had found its place. She sat down and started swing slowly. "What are we going to do now, Baby Morgan?" she whispered. "We like Derek, don't we?" Meredith sighed as she stared across the room, lost in her thoughts. And then she concluded. "Mark is not going to tell him about us. He doesn't want anyone to find out, so Derek doesn't have to know… right?" she talked to the baby.

As answer, Baby Morgan let out a sleepy yawn and cradled her face to her mother's chest. She was letting her decide if that was wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

Derek was in his office, reading from a medical journal and holding a sleeping Morgan in his arms, when Preston Burke gave a light knock to the door and sneaked his head inside. "Busy?" he asked in whisper, already knowing about the baby's presence in there.

"No," Derek whispered back as he put the magazine aside on his desk. "Come in," he invited him inside. "And there's no need for whispers. Nothing disturbs her sleep," he said, smiling down at Morgan.

"So she's Ms. Grey," Preston concluded as he made his way to Derek's desk. He leaned over the desk to take a better look at the baby and then took a seat in a chair.

"She is Ms. Morgan Ellis Grey," Derek smiled, making himself look like a proud Daddy. "Meredith was late for her test and she didn't have time to drop her to the daycare," he explained.

"Very generous of you," Preston smiled.

"Did you need anything?" Derek asked him then.

Preston smiled, looking slightly uncomfortable. He rearranged his glasses on his nose and cleared his throat. "I'd like to ask you something."

Derek looked curiously at him. "As long as I don't have to leave her off my arms for another hour…" he offered.

"You know, they say it's not good for the baby to spend too much time in the grown-ups' arms. It could make them whiny," Preston stated, offside with what he wanted to ask Derek.

"I know," Derek chuckled. "But I can't help it. She's so soft and warm," he said, cradling the baby closer to his chest.

"Are you cold in here?" Preston asked, still diverting from the real reason of his visit there.

"Can we skip over this part and tell me why you are here?" Derek asked him straight.

Preston smiled and cleared his throat. "I want you to be my best man at my wedding."

Derek raised his brows, completely surprised by his proposal. As he had told Meredith a while ago, he didn't have any friends in Seattle… or no one he knew about.

"The wedding is in about two months so you have time to think about it," Preston added.

"I will think about it," Derek nodded, still unable to understand how could Preston Burke –his competition for the Chief of Surgery position- ask him to be his best man at his wedding with Christina Yang. Derek shrugged to himself; apparently, he wasn't the only person in that hospital without friends.

"All right," Preston smiled and stood up. He turned around to go to the door, but after just a step, he stopped and turned back to Derek.

Derek looked at him, questioning.

"Do I think it is possible to hold her for just a moment?" Preston asked, looking at Morgan.

Derek stared at him, even more confused.

"If it's possible," Preston assured him as answer to Derek's silence.

"I don't know," Derek muttered, slowly rocking the baby. "She has rules, you know," he said in the same quiet voice.

No reply came from Preston, so Derek looked up just to meet his suspicious stare. "You'd better not be obsessed with this baby."

Derek shot him a glare, offended. "I was there when she was born. I wouldn't call that an obsession," he said dryly. He stood up and walked around the desk, stopping in front of Preston. "You can hold her."

Preston carefully checked Derek's expression before he slid his hands under Morgan and shifted her into his arms. His serious features softened as he looked down at the baby. "She doesn't look much like her mother."

"She doesn't," Derek agreed.

"Are you the father?" Preston asked him straight. Derek chuckled at first, but then he saw how serious his question had been. "You know there are rumors traveling around here," Preston added. "I don't care though," he shrugged and smiled as he took Morgan's tiny hand in his.

"I am not the father," Derek answered, almost robotically. "I am just her midwife," he chuckled, but his chuckled wasn't as light as he had wanted it to sound. Slowly he took the baby from Preston. "It was love at the first sight… for both of us," he grinned at Preston.

"You and Dr. Grey or you and Dr. Grey's baby?" Preston asked suspiciously. "And I recommend you to answer Dr. Grey."

Derek just smiled and Preston even chuckled at the reddish shade from Derek's cheeks.

"Do you want to have children?" Derek asked him.

"I want," Preston sighed and smiled at the same time. "I just have to wait a little bit longer. I hardly convinced Christina to take our relationship to a higher level. A baby is out of discussion at this point."

"She's pretty," Preston stated with admiration while smiling down at Morgan. "I can see why you are finding it hard to stay away from her."

"She's more than pretty," Derek smiled at her as well. "There's something about her…" he muttered, thoughtful. "She reminds me of someone… or something," he shrugged, clearing his thoughts. "She looks familiar."

"She's a baby and most of the babies look alike," Preston answered.

"No," Derek disagreed with a shake from his head. As he looked up at Preston, his eyes gazed past him, outside the office. "Is that…. Ellis Grey?" he asked.

"What?" Preston turned in a sudden, following his gaze. "She is," he was as shocked as Derek was as they stared a woman outside the office who was reading something from a chart.

"Did you know she was coming?" Derek asked, taking a step closer to the door.

"No," Preston admitted and walked ahead, opening the door, with Derek closely following him. "Dr. Grey?" he asked, his hands and thoughts shaking of emotion.

"Dr. Grey," Derek didn't need any confirmation to know for sure who that woman really was.

Ellis Grey looked up from the chart the first time she heard her name. She looked at Preston and then at Derek and the baby and then looked around her. "Am I on Pediatric floor?" she asked, honestly confused.

"No," both men chuckled nervously.

Ellis looked at them again, this time at Derek in particular and at the baby he was holding.

"I'm Dr. Preston Burke," Preston held out his hand.

"Yeah, I recognized you," she shook his hand absently. She was still checking curiously at Derek and Morgan. "And you are?" she asked, letting her hand slip off Preston's and directing it to Derek.

Derek frowned, visibly offended of not being recognized. "Dr. Derek Shepherd," he shook her hand less enthusiastic.

"Oh yes. I've heard of you," she answered and then her eyes flickered on the baby. "I thought you were a neurosurgeon."

"I am," Derek smiled. "She's a friend's baby. She's actually…"

"I am sorry but I don't have so much time right now. I will be around her for another couple of hours so maybe we'll talk later," Ellis interrupted him as she started sprinting down the hall, before Derek could introduce her to her granddaughter.

"I will escort you for a while," Preston offered and left with Ellis, leaving Derek staring dumbfounded after them.

"That was your grandma," he whispered in Morgan's ear. "Your grandma saw you but she didn't know who you were," he muttered, mostly talking to himself than to Morgan.

Derek walked back into his office, still trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He knew already about the cold relation between Meredith and her mother and he also knew that along with the baby's father, she didn't know if her only grandchild was a girl or a boy. Derek took a seat down on the couch and cradled Morgan in his arms. She slowly opened her eyes and yawned. "You should have woken up a minute ago. Your grandma Ellis saw you."

Morgan watched him with curious eyes and her face started twisting in grimaces as she started whimpering. "You don't care much about her, do you?" Derek sighed and fumbled through her bag. He took out one of the bottles Meredith had prepared for her and left to heat it up and feed her.

Meredith was one of the first interns who left the exam room. As she was out of there, she darted towards Derek's office to retrieve her daughter. Around the corner, Derek showed up in her way, smiling.

"How did it go?" he asked her.

His question was left without answer as Meredith looked worriedly at him. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Derek asked confused.

Meredith gasped with anger. "My daughter!" she snapped. "Where is she?"

"Oh," he chuckled as he understood what she was talking about. "She's at the nurses station," he said tilting his head to a side.

"What is she doing there?" Meredith snapped walking past him to the nurses' station. She stopped dead in her track and gasped once more as she saw all the females gathered around her baby. "You were supposed to watch her!"

"I was watching her, but I saw you coming," Derek explained.

"And she's not a pimp, so go and bring her to me," she scowled.

Derek took a defensive step back and didn't comment as he turned and went to take Morgan from all the ladies, who were cooing to her.

"Is this why you wanted to stay with her? To get easier to the women?" Meredith scolded as she took the baby from Derek.

"I'd never do this," Derek defended himself. "They saw her and they wanted to look closer."

Meredith rolled her eyes as she turned and headed towards Derek's office.

"How did it go?" Derek followed her, trying to make her forget about the little incident with Morgan and the women.

"It wasn't that difficult," Meredith shrugged.

As they reached into Derek's office, Derek closed the door. "Your mother is here," he informed her.

Meredith looked at him, confused.

"Your mother is here at the hospital," Derek said. "With work I think," he added quickly, not wishing to let Meredith misunderstand.

She stared at him for half a second and she shrugged. "How do you know?" she asked conversationally.

"I saw her," Derek answered. "And she also saw Morgan." Meredith's eyes flickered on him again. "But she didn't know it was her granddaughter," Derek cleared up.

He could read a little disappointment in her eyes as she heard that. Meredith looked away and tried to ignore the information. It wasn't anything important.

"I understand if you want to cancel the dinner tonight," Derek said softly.

"No," she smiled faintly. She sighed as she put the bag on her shoulder and leaned down to kiss Morgan. "She's here, but she's not here to see me," she explained. "I have to take her home now. Did she eat?"

"Yes. I gave her a bottle," Derek said. "I will give you ride home," he put a hand on her back and walked with her out of the office.

Derek looked at the house as he got out of his car and smiled, seeing the lights on. He walked onto the porch and knocked once. No sound came from the inside, so Derek fumbled through his pockets and took out a key. The key twisted into the latch and Derek opened the door. That far his friendship with Meredith had gotten in the last 6 weeks.

"Meredith?" he called from the doorway, scanning the surroundings.

"Come on in!" her voice came from upstairs.

Derek walked into the house and shut the door.

"I will be right down!" Meredith shouted.

"I will be here," Derek answered and took a seat on the stairs. Then he heard Morgan's whimpers. He stood up and turned to the stairs. "Is everything all right there?"

"Yeah. Someone's being very cranky this evening," he heard Meredith sighing and Derek thought she was trying to put the baby to sleep. "Do you need help?" he asked her, already putting his foot on the first stair.

"No, no!" she answered quickly, panting. "Give me a second."

"I am coming upstairs," he said, but he stopped as soon as he spotted Meredith already coming downstairs. His eyes locked on the black gown she was wearing, forgetting to breathe as he watched her delicate silhouette moving swiftly down the stairs.

"Am I too dressed?" she stopped and gave look down to herself.

His eyes lingered on her v-neck and swallowed a lump. "Definitely not too dressed," he chuckled.

"Derek," Meredith giggled.

Derek tore his eyes from her body and just then, he noticed that Meredith was carrying Morgan in her carrycot. From her seat, Morgan whimpered and frowned while pinching nervously her pink dress.

"Why is she dressed up?" Derek chuckled, leaning down to pick her up from the carrycot. "Are you having a date with your babysitter tonight?" he asked her as he cradled her into his arms. "Where is the babysitter?" he asked Meredith. "We're going to be late."

Meredith smiled at him, biting her lip. She walked past him down the stairs and put the carrycot on the table. "Strap her in."

"Meredith," Derek turned and looked at her serious.

Meredith let out a sigh before she looked at him. She nervously tucked her hair behind the ear. "We are taking her with us."

As he heard the determination in her voice, Derek shook his head disapprovingly, also disappointed. That should have been his first date with Meredith and he had been looking forward to having her just for himself for at least a couple of hours. Secretly he was hoping he would take his relationship with Meredith to an upper level.

"I can't let her alone with a 16-year-old, whose mind is bathing in hormones. She's my daughter and I am not willing to take any risk," Meredith explained.

"But you said you knew her parents and she's a responsible girl," Derek almost pleaded her as he tried to change her mind.

Meredith wasn't so easy to convince though. She shook her head firmly. "She's still a teenager," she mumbled.

"Meredith, that's an exclusive restaurant. We can't bring a baby with us there. Besides, the reservation is for two,"

"Seriously?" Meredith laughed at his explanation. "Did you hear that, Baby Morgan? I guess you won't be able to sit on your own chair and eat from your own plate tonight," she replied sarcastically to Derek while talking to Morgan.

Derek chuckled to himself as he admitted that he hadn't given her the best explanation.

"If she's not coming, then I am not coming either," Meredith told him. "We don't even have reasons for celebration yet."

Derek looked at her for a moment and he leaned down and kissed Morgan on the forehead before he carried her back to her carrycot. He had made great efforts for getting that reservation, so he had no other choice but try and prey that Morgan would have a quiet evening.

"She'll fall asleep in a few minutes," Meredith reassured him. She had waited for a dinner like this too, but now –when their first date was becoming reality- she found out she couldn't leave her baby girl with whomever. She sighed discreetly, relieved and content, to see Derek complying with her wishes. "Thank you," she leaned down to his ear as she whispered.

Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled genuinely. He picked the carrycot up and walked Meredith to the door.

Meredith and Derek smiled at each other when Derek took Morgan out of the car and the baby let out a sigh. He wasn't that worried about having a baby with him at the restaurant as during the ride, Morgan had fallen asleep.

"Good evening," a young host greeted them with a polite smile.

"Good evening," Derek smiled. "We have a reservation for Shepherd."

As she heard that, the host glanced at the baby, obviously not approving her presence there.

"She's sleeping and she will be sleeping for another couple of hours," Derek said, hoping to help a little and convince her not to deny their evening.

"We'll leave as soon as she starts whimpering," Meredith added.

"But she won't because she has just fallen asleep and nothing disturbs her," he also mentioned.

The girl let out an exasperated sigh, but as she looked at Morgan again and watched her peaceful sleep, a smile crept across her lips. "I will walk you to your table," she told them and took two menus as she walked ahead.

Meredith and Derek smiled at each other as they followed the girl. They put the carrycot on a chair beside them and both ordered the food. Morgan had many people stopping by their table just to glance at her and compliment her cuteness.

"To a flawless test," Derek toasted, holding his glass of wine in the air. "And to a good tutor," he added, smirking.

Meredith laughed and held up her glass of water. "To whatever you say." Derek made a slight grimace at her toast. "And to Morgan's first night out," she added, smiling.

Derek chuckled as he held up his glass for Morgan. "And from what I can see, she will have many other nights out. You should start looking for a nanny already if you don't want to take her to the daycare."

Meredith grimaced at the word 'daycare' and shook her head. "I will but it's still too early. My maternity leave ends in two months and I am planning to spend as much time with her as I can in these two months. And speaking of Morgan…" she paused so that she could grin at Derek. "He signed the papers."

Derek smiled, but it wasn't one of his best smiles. It was good news that Morgan's father was giving up his rights as parent because this way he would allow another man to come into her life – when the time would be right-, but he also felt a little unsure of this decision; it was making him feel somehow guilty and he couldn't explain the reason.

"That was easy," he mumbled.

"I knew he would sign them right away," she shrugged. "Now it's only a matter of weeks until my lawyer makes the papers."

"Are you sure this was the best decision?" he couldn't help it and had to ask her as if her answer would clear his conscious.

"He signed the papers immediately and this says a lot," Meredith answered. "I am trying to do the right thing here. He didn't want the baby and I birthed it against his will. It was stupid of me and I am not even sure why I tried to piss him off."

"What if…" Derek wanted to ask her, but he didn't have the strength to do it.

"What if something happens to me?" she asked, guessing his question. Derek nodded slowly. Meredith sighed as she looked down to her plate, thoughtful. "I thought about that too. She has a grandma I don't talk to that much and a grandpa who hasn't seen me in 20 years," she muttered. She bit her lip as she glanced at Derek. "You can have her," she said, looking into his eyes.

Derek stared at her for a moment, dumfounded.

"If you want her," she added when she read his shock.

Derek gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course I want her."

"After my death or whatever," she pointed out.

Derek grimaced at her words. "Do you realize how … sad this is?"

Meredith forced a smile as she looked down. "I know," she muttered. "But you're not a stranger anymore. Besides me, nobody knows her better than you."

"Let's change this topic, please," he suggested, both of them starting to feel depressed already.

"Gladly," she shuddered, just thinking at that possibility. She leaned down and gently caressed Morgan's cheek while Derek reached across the table and took her hand.

"The main purpose for this dinner is to enjoy us and … be somewhat special," Derek smiled comforting.

Her face became brighter again as she smiled at him. She felt the warm feeling of safety as he held his hand over hers and her heart fluttered when Derek pulled his hand.

"Did you talk to your mother?" he asked her.

Meredith sighed loudly, shaking her head to their new topic; another one she didn't like. "I told you she was not here to see me," she mumbled. "And why do we have talk about me all the time? We've known each other for over a month now and I don't know anything about you while you know almost everything about me."

"Almost…" Derek smirked, trying to avoid that kind of conversation. "So I still have some research to do."

"Derek," she looked at him, serious. "Who are you, Derek?"

"What do you mean who I am?" he laughed. "Derek Shepherd, neurosurgeon at Seattle Grace hospital."

"That's right. I know Derek Shepherd the neurosurgeon, but I don't know Derek Shepherd the person," she pointed out. "To me… you're still a stranger and considering the actual relationship between us and what I just told you about my daughter, I think it's my turn to ask questions."

Derek gave her one of his genuine smiles as he played with his fork in his plate. "You know some things about me," he answered. "I was married to Dr. Addison Montgomery and…"

"No," she stopped him, shaking her head disapprovingly. "I don't want to know about you and Dr. Montgomery. I want to hear about you and your ex-wife, for example. Like… why did you break up?"

As she asked him that, Meredith easily could read pain in his smile. From all the possible questions, why had she chosen that one, she blamed herself.

"I love babies," he answered then, the same genuine smile on his face.

"I know that already," she agreed.

Derek chuckled but his chuckle was sad too. "She was pregnant with my child and she chose the career over the pregnancy," he looked down at his plate as his words came out as murmur. "I am not obsessive of your baby," he reassured her. "But I like to … to see them growing, living their innocence and becoming extraordinary human beings. We tried to make things work. 11 years weren't so easy to give up on."

"11 years?" Meredith asked, surprised.

"That's even sadder," he smiled at her. "You discover the person you share your life with after 11 years."

"I am sorry," she muttered apologetically as if she had anything to do with his condition. "So you don't believe in marriage anymore."

"I do believe in marriage," he answered, very convincing. "But now I keep my eyes wide open as I look at the people around me."

Somehow, she didn't believe that. He was either just starting opening his eyes or his sight wasn't so good. Her baby girl was looking more each day like the man he considered his best friend, his brother.

"What have you found out about me so far?" she asked.

"I found out what an extraordinary person you are," he answered.

"Stop saying that," she shook her head disapprovingly.

"I won't. You made mistakes… terrible mistakes, but you assume the consequences and this makes you extraordinary," he reassured her.

She glanced at him and smiled gratefully. "Would you marry me?" she asked jokingly.

"I would," was his straight answer, which left Meredith speechless. "I would," he repeated and smiled as he reached for her hand again. "What else should I tell you about me? My family is a big family. My dad passed away years ago, I have mom, my four sisters and their husbands, and … a couple of nephews now," he chuckled. "Besides my father's death, we like to consider ourselves a normal family… happy." Derek gave a light squeeze to her hand before he let it go. "I will let you know more about me in time."

She smiled and for the first time in months, she felt hopeful.

Derek pulled the car in front of Meredith's house. While she got outside, Derek started unfastening Morgan's carrycot from the backseats.

"I think they won't receive us there if we don't bring Morgan with us," Derek laughed as he carefully picked the baby up into his arms.

"I won't go there again!" she stated. "They wanted to take her pictures… like she was a monkey or their mascot," she giggled.

Derek laughed and kissed the still-sleeping baby before he put her back into the carrycot. He wrapped an arm around Meredith's waist as he walked them to the door.

He handed her the carrycot and took her other hand. "I want more than your friendship, Meredith," Derek confessed, smiling while his eyes were piercing hers. "But I don't want to rush you." As he said that, Derek took her face between his hands and his lips brushed against hers. "Good night, Meredith," he smiled as he took a step backward.

"Will you come tomorrow?" she muttered.

His smile became even brighter. "Definitely," he reassured her.

She stayed on the porch until Derek's car was out of her sight. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the door and biting her lip, as the sweet taste of his lips was still lingering over hers.

She shook her head and returned to reality. It wasn't raining that evening in Seattle, but the weather was windy. She shivered and unlocked the door, hurrying to bring Morgan to warmth.

As she closed back the door, Meredith looked curiously at the house. Something was different. As she tried to find out what was different, Meredith realized. The lights were on. "Did we leave the lights on?" she asked Morgan-without expecting an answer.

Walking into the living room, Meredith shrieked. "Mom!"


	9. Chapter 9

Ellis Grey was sitting in a chair, browsing trough a folder, when her daughter walked in together with her baby girl.

Because of her mother's shriek, Morgan stirred and started crying. Meredith quickly put the carrycot on the couch and took the baby into her arms, soothing her. Morgan calmed down as soon as she felt her mother's embrace and started sucking her thumb.

"Hello, Meredith," her mother greeted her with a perfect calm and emotionless expression. She stood up and glanced at the baby in her arms. "I knocked, but none answered. I had to come and look for some files," she explained the reason for her presence there before Meredith could ask her.

Meredith just nodded, still shocked by the unexpected visit. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked, trying not to sound anxious.

"No," Ellis shook her head, tearing her eyes from the baby again. "I am looking for the financial statements from last year," she said and started browsing through her folder.

"I have them upstairs in my room," Meredith answered.

"Oh," her mother looked at her and peaked again at the baby. "Could you bring them to me?" she asked her.

"Sure," Meredith nodded and turned to walk out of the room.

"You can leave her here," Ellis stopped her before Meredith could make a single step.

Meredith looked at her-confused at first- but as she saw her mother watching Morgan, she knew what she meant. Her arms instinctively tightened around the baby.

"We're family, Meredith," Ellis said, with slight disappointment in her voice at Meredith's reaction.

Meredith stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. She knew she had no reason of worry, but her mother's attitude towards her pregnancy made her reluctant. Meredith looked at Morgan and saw her calmly watching her and sucking her thumb. She carefully put her back into the carrycot and strapped her in. "Can you keep an eye on her, please?" she asked her mother, although she had the feeling that Ellis was going to do it anyway. "It won't take long."

"Sure," Ellis reassured her, nodding her head.

Meredith glanced once more back to them before she walked upstairs.

Ellis sat down in her chair and pretended to be looking through that folder again, despite the fact that she had found what she was looking for her.

Left alone with her grandma- an unfamiliar face- Morgan frowned and let out a nervous whimper. Ellis jumped instinctively on her feet. Morgan noticed her reaction and stared at her for a moment before she whimpered again. Ellis walked over to the couch and crouched in front of the baby. Having her in front of her eyes now, Morgan calmed down and reached out for her. A smile crept on her lips as she watched the baby. Ellis took her tiny hand and shook it lightly. "Hi," she whispered. Morgan smiled. Ellis smiled wider at that. "You remind me a lot of your mommy."

"She doesn't look like me that much," Meredith said from the doorway as she overheard her mother's last statement.

Ellis stood up quickly and regained her composer. "Did you find them?" she asked her, glancing at the folder from her hands.

"Yes," Meredith nodded and walked over to the couch, handing it to her while she sat down beside Morgan.

Ellis took the folder and disposed the other one on the table, glancing at the interaction between Meredith and her daughter. Morgan sighed loudly when Meredith cradled her into her arms, and started sucking her thumb again.

"She looks like you," Ellis said. "She has the same flush in her cheeks you used to have as baby," she looked at Meredith to see her staring at her with wide eyes. "And she seems friendly too."

"Thanks," Meredith muttered as she looked down at Morgan. "I guess," she added under her breath. Then she heard her mother's sigh and the couch shifted as Ellis sat down beside her.

"I am your only family, Meredith," she said, her voice sounding warmer now. "You're my daughter so… I will help you."

Meredith bit her lip as she tried to fight back the tears.

"She's … six weeks old and she looks healthy," Ellis added.

"Her name is Morgan Ellis Grey," Meredith muttered. As she looked at her, Meredith saw the surprise in her eyes.

"Morgan is a nice name," Ellis smiled for a brief second.

"It is," Meredith smiled faintly.

"Have you heard anything from Mark Sloan?" her voice became a little harsher again as she asked her that.

Meredith sighed and shrugged. "Not much," she muttered. "I got his signature for full custody."

Ellis frowned, visibly displeased. "Why was Derek Shepherd holding Morgan today in his office?"

"I had to take the test today and I didn't have time to drop her to the daycare," Meredith explained.

"Yeah but why was Derek Shepherd holding Morgan?" Ellis insisted as Meredith hadn't answered to her question.

Meredith sighed as she understood what Ellis was implying. "He's my friend."

Ellis didn't say anything and just stood up. "He's an attending and also Mark's Sloan best friend," she said. "I have to go now. Take care of you, Meredith," she stopped in the doorway and looked at Meredith. "And take care of Morgan Ellis Grey."

Meredith looked up, watching her mother leaving the house. She stared blankly at the doorway until Morgan reached her hand up and ask for her attention. "Yes, that was your grandma Ellis," Meredith smiled down at Morgan.

Morgan didn't look very interested and she started crying for her meal. Meredith carried her upstairs into her room and sat down in the rocking chair to feed Morgan.

When Morgan slept soundly, Meredith walked into her room and stripped off her gown. She looked for some sweat clothes and crawled into the bed, under the blanket. She tossed between sheets as her mother's visit continued to repeat in her head and she tried to understand it.

Meredith reached for the lamp and turned the light on. She took the phone and dialed a well-known number.

"Meredith?" Derek's voice asked from the other end of the line.

"Hi," Meredith whispered.

"Is everything ok?" Derek asked her, sounding a little worried. He had reasons. Meredith never called him at such late hour.

"Yes," she reassured him. "I just…" she stopped, not having the courage to say it.

"What is it?" but Meredith couldn't find her voice to answer. "Meredith?"

"Could you come over?" she asked him.

"Sure," Derek answered after a short pause. "I will be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks," she smiled and hung up.

--  
Derek knocked once and opened the door in the same time. He disapprovingly shook his head as he found the door unlocked and the house in silence. "Meredith?" he called louder this time, already knowing that Meredith was nowhere downstairs.

"Meredith?" he called out again when no answer came from Meredith.

Suddenly he felt worried. He ran upstairs and stopped in Morgan's room. He walked slowly into the room and smiled as he looked into the crib. Derek caressed her head and then he gave a look around him. He walked outside and went into Meredith's room. Peaking inside from the doorway, Derek chuckled quietly as he saw Meredith sleeping in the middle of the bed. He didn't know why she had called him, but he was happy to see that it wasn't for something bad.

His first thought was to leave quietly the house, but then he asked himself again why Meredith had called him. He walked downstairs, locked the door and turned the lights off. As he returned upstairs, Derek checked on Morgan again before he went back into Meredith's room. He took off his shirt and pants and slowly got in the bed, behind Meredith.

"Derek," she moaned softly as she felt his arms locking around her.

Derek chuckled quietly and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek before he lay down and spoon her.


	10. Chapter 10

Meredith had the weirdest sensation as she woke up the next morning. Her hand was holding a warm, hairy arm, a strong body warmed up her back and a warm breath was brushing against her neck. As her eyes adjusted to the daylight and her brain woke up as well, Meredith remembered. She had called Derek the previous night but she fall asleep. She closed her eyes again and enjoyed the moment. It felt so right and heavenly to be in his arms and in the same time, it felt wrong and like hell. She had slept with his best friend- his brother, as Derek had described his relationship with Mark- and she was having his child without Derek knowing anything about it. Meredith kept telling herself that Mark was part of her past now; a past, which would never return. He had signed the papers for giving Meredith the full custody of their daughter, so he also signed his exit from her life. Mark wouldn't tell anyone about the baby and Meredith was too afraid of losing her only friend because of her mistakes. She didn't want Morgan to lose her only friend.

Soft lips reached for her cheek and kissed her. "You're awake," Derek's soft voice greeted her.

Meredith closed her eyes and smiled as the kiss lingered on her cheek. Then she remembered. Her eyes popped open and she stood upright. She couldn't let Derek be more than her friend.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, now also wondering how he had gotten into her bed.

"You called me last night," Derek explained, confused.

"I know I called you but what are you doing here?" she asked.

Derek looked at her suspiciously. "You asked me to come here. Meredith, have you been drinking?"

"No," she snapped, horrified by his presumption.

"Then why do you keep asking me what I am doing here?"

"What are you doing in my bed?" she asked him, frowning.

Derek chuckled, ashamed. "I don't think I have a good explanation for that," he answered with a hopeful smile.

Meredith wanted to smile back, but she forced herself not to. She couldn't look angry either or scold him for his gesture; she couldn't do that for a thing she had enjoyed herself with. Meredith drew the blanket upper over her body and looked away quickly as Derek got out of the bed and revealed his almost-naked body.

"I thought you were a doctor," Derek chuckled teasingly at the embarrassment in her eyes.

"Don't be a smart ass," Meredith grumbled. She stopped from glaring and listened. Something was not right.

"What is it?" Derek asked her as he noticed her sudden change.

Meredith looked at him, terrified, getting off the bed in the same time. "Morgan."

"What about her?" Derek asked, confused.

"Did you wake up last night to calm her down? Or this morning?" Meredith asked as she slipped in her slippers.

Derek thought about it for a second and then he shook his head. "No,"

"Oh God," she whimpered, stomping out of her room.

"Meredith, what's wrong?" Derek panicked and followed her into Morgan's room.

Meredith sighed with relief as she looked inside the crib and saw Baby Morgan smiling and wriggling her legs and arms. She smiled and leaned down to pick her up into her.

"What happened to you?" Meredith asked her, carefully rocking her back and forth and looking at her, analyzing each part of her. "What happened to her?" She asked Derek.

Derek shrugged, clueless. "I guess she has found out how great it feels to sleep at night instead of during the day," he laughed. "Or maybe she slept better because she knew I was here," he added, smirking at Meredith.

Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling. "You love yourself too much," she went and sat down in the rocking chair, cradling Morgan to her chest. "Leave the room or turn your back," she told Derek.

"Why?" Derek frowned.

Meredith glanced up at his still almost-naked body and quickly looked back at Morgan. "You're not dressed decent for baby girl," she muttered.

"She's only a few weeks old," Derek laughed at Meredith's statement.

"Go put some clothes on you, Derek," Meredith insisted. "You've also stared enough at my breasts."

Derek grinned smugly. "I will be right back," he said and walked out of the bedroom.

"Derek?" Meredith called after a while, when she noticed that Derek wasn't hovering around her anymore. "Derek?" she called again, a little louder this time. No answer came from Derek.

Baby Morgan was done with her breakfast, so Meredith burped her. "Where is Derek?" Meredith wondered. She would have wanted to change Morgan's diaper first and give her clean clothes if Derek's disappearance wasn't such a mystery.

Meredith walked out the bedroom, carrying a cranky Morgan in her arms, and went into her bedroom. There was no sign of Derek. Meredith walked out in the hall and listened. Some muffled sounds were coming from downstairs. "Breakfast time for Mommy," she smiled at Morgan and gave her a kiss. "Our weird friend is making me breakfast. I hope," muttered and headed downstairs.

Walking in the kitchen, a sweet smell of pancakes greeted her. Baby Morgan seemed thrilled with the smell too as she giggled and forgot about whatever had made her cranky earlier.

As he heard Morgan's voice, Derek turned from the oven and smiled at them. "Hi. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes."

The smell was too dazzling for Meredith to scold him or glare at him. "Pancakes?"

"Blueberries," Derek smirked and turned back to the oven.

Meredith grimaced as she heard that. "I am not really a fan of blueberries," she admitted.

"What?" Derek looked at her, surprised. "How can you?"

"I have my reasons," Meredith shrugged. "I will go dress Morgan," she said and turned to leave.

"You are going to love my pancakes!" he announced proudly, receiving only a giggle from Meredith as answer.

Derek held Morgan in his arms, playing with her and glancing from time to time at Meredith. "I thought you said you don't like the blueberry pancakes," he said, smiling as he watched Meredith licking her plate.

"I don't," Meredith shrugged, mouthful.

"Then save the plate," he laughed teasingly.

Meredith wriggled her nose, smiling at him as she stood up and picked up her plate. "My dad used to make me this," she said quietly, turning to the sink.

There were still so many things he didn't know about Meredith.

Though she had her back turned to Derek, Meredith could feel his gaze on her. She turned on the water and the water spray streamed over her plate. "He left me when I was little," she muttered, answering this way to Derek's questioning stare. "Bad memories," she sighed and turned off the water, placing the plate in the dryer. Meredith rolled her eyes as she turned and met Derek's compassionate smile. "I am over it," she grumbled and walked over to him, taking Morgan from his arms.

"You ate my pancakes so … I can see that," he answered with a smile.

"Aren't you going to be late for work?" she asked him.

"No. I have the day off," Derek answered.

Morgan put her head down on her mother's shoulder and started sucking on her thumb as her mother swung her slowly. Meredith leaned against the counter and gazed out the window. It was her first sunny morning in Seattle and the first sunny morning in Morgan's life.

"It looks perfect for a first walk outside," his voice made her start as he came beside her.

She looked at him and smiled as she nodded in agreement. "We could do some shopping too, couldn't we?" she smiled at Morgan. Morgan smiled and kept sucking her thumb. "I guess you want to come," she said, looking at Derek.

Derek smiled smugly. "I came with the idea."

Meredith giggled, but her smile quickly became thoughtful. "My mother was here last night. That's why I called you," she said.

"She was?" Derek frowned, thinking she might have had another conflict with her mother. "What did she want?"

"She wanted some papers," she answered, gently rubbing her hand against Morgan's tiny back. "She also met Morgan."

Derek could tell from the confused look in her eyes that the visit hadn't gone that bad. Probably it had been better than anyone expected. "You're ok?" he asked her.

She gave him a faint smile and nodded. "What were you doing in my bed?" she asked him, not wanting to let go that topic. Although, she had her suspicions as Derek's kiss at the end of their dinner and the embrace she found herself wrapped in that morning were speaking more than any word.

Derek made a step closer to her and gently brushed his hand against her cheek as he looked into her eyes, smiling. He leaned down and his lips barely brushed against hers, yet they left their flavor on hers.

Meredith closed her eyes and shuttered as she felt the strong sensation inside her body, like a quake. "We should get ready for the walk," her voice murmured as she tried to shake that feeling. She didn't need any answer and her suspicions were real. Morgan had her fist into her mouth and decided to poke her Mommy with her finger and help her came out of her thoughts. "Baby," Meredith whimpered and caught her fist before Morgan could poke her again. "The stroller is in the closet by the front door," she told Derek, who had started cleaning the table. "It's unwrapped," she warned him and walked outside, taking Morgan with her.

"Your Mommy likes to spend money she doesn't have," Derek told Morgan as he walked into her bedroom, carrying her. It was later that day and Derek had bathed Morgan. He had her wrapped her in a tiny white bathrobe, whimpering in his arms.

Meredith was Morgan's room, piling up the clothes she had bought for her baby that day. Dresses, pajamas, different costumes, hats and pairs of shoes and sandals were coming out from a bunch of shopping bags. She chuckled as Derek walked inside and said that. "I still have some funds. Besides, it was our first day out so we had to celebrate it somehow."

"You bought a dress which might not fit her tomorrow," Derek said as he put Morgan down on the table Meredith had for changing her diapers and dress her.

"You're point is…" she rolled her eyes sarcastically as she started gathering all the empty shopping bags, to shove them into a bigger one.

Derek shook his head smiling. He knew there was no point in arguing with Meredith over that subject. He also loved everything she had bought for Morgan and most of those things had been his suggestion. Derek smiled down at Morgan and loosened the robe. Morgan whimpered and wriggled her body as she met the colder air from the room. "Be patient," Derek whispered to her. He put the diaper between her legs and carefully turned her from one side to another to wrap it around her waist. As he turned her on her left side, something from her waist caught his attention. A small red spot looked like a birthmark. It seemed to have the shape of a flower or a star. Derek ran his finger across it, whitening it as he pressed but regaining its red color instantly. That sign looked so familiar to him; its shape, the place it was located. As he stared at it, Derek knew why it looked familiar. His best friend Mark had a similar sign in about the same place. Shocked by the discovery, Derek slowly took her into his arms and looked closly at her face. Now he also knew why her features were familiar to him; she looked a lot like her father. Then he understood everything; Mark's reaction at their conversation about Meredith, Meredith's refuse to talk about Morgan's father and about the problems she had had with Mark Sloan. Morgan was Mark's daughter.

"Morgan has a small sign on her waist," he said, hardly keeping the control over his voice. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to be upset, he wanted to yell, but he couldn't.

Meredith came to them and looked at Morgan's waist, without noticing Derek's stone posture yet. "I think it's a birthmark," she said. "It has started showing a few days ago."

"It is a birthmark," Derek assured her and his voice sounded reproachful.

Meredith looked at him as she heard the tone of his voice. She looked into his eyes as she processed herself their last words. She remembered too. As she understood that Derek knew about Mark, Meredith took Morgan from Derek's arms, avoiding the eye contact. She put her back down on the table and started dressing her, while Derek held his gaze on her. She felt the ground unsteady beneath her feet as she could feel his gaze was a reproachful glare. She swallowed the limp she felt stuck in her throat and tried to stay composed as she dressed her baby.

"Why didn't you trust me?" Derek asked her, his voice sounding softer than the glare in his eyes.

Meredith couldn't dare to look at him or say anything. She closed the buttons to Morgan's pajamas and took her in her arms.

"She's Mark's daughter," Derek continued, his voice turning a little harsher now.

"She's not," she retorted, glaring.

"She is," Derek contradicted. They tried to calm down as Morgan started whimpering, scared of their shouts. "She is his daughter," Derek repeated and held up his hand as Meredith wanted to say something. "She is part of him so she's his, no matter what the law and you say now… or what he says."

"I don't want him in our life," Meredith looked away as she mumbled.

"See? Here's the problem; you don't want him, but how do you know he won't change his mind. I think you have taken a rush decision when you sent him the papers for Morgan's custody?"

Meredith looked at him in disbelief. "You believe he would ever want to be Morgan's father?"

Derek sighed and brushed his hair with his fingers. "Mark… he's impulsive. He acts without thinking at consequences, but… he is not a bad man, Meredith."

Meredith understood what he was saying. He wanted her to go back and try being with Mark… for Morgan.

Besides the anger and disappointment, Derek also felt a sharp pain in his heart. He had hoped he would have Meredith and Morgan for himself, but finding out how Mark was involved in their story, he knew he had to give up on that hope. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her, his voice was reflecting the pain in his voice now.

"What was the point…" Meredith wiped the corner of her eye as her eyes started tearing. "Mark does not want her. You say he could change his mind. When? When Morgan will go to college? Are we supposed to wait for him until then? Life moves forward for us. We don't wait for him."

Derek walked over to the window where Meredith and Morgan were and caressed Morgan's blond hair. He leaned to Meredith and kissed her on the forehead. "You should reconsider your decision. Talk to your lawyer and give him some time. Maybe you two won't end up together, but it's not just about you two here," he said and kissed Morgan's head before he turned his back on them.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. She wiped her cheek, glaring out the window. "We're not even friends now?"

Derek stopped in the doorway and looked back at them. "We're still friends," he reassured her. "Call me if you need anything," he said and walked outside.

Meredith stayed at the window, crying as she gazed outside. Despite everything that had happened in only a few minutes, Morgan was calmly sucking her thumb while watching her Mommy with curious eyes. Meredith watched him leaving the house and heading to his car, catching just a glimpse of him as he glanced up at her window. When the car disappeared from her sight, Meredith sniffled and wiped her eyes. "It's just Mommy and Baby Morgan again," she smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead as new tears streamed down her face. "Just you and me again," she sobbed. "But we'll be fine."

Playing with her hands in the air, Morgan's fist brushed against Meredith's cheek, which felt like the most soothing touch.

**--**

**N/A: Just a warning... I may not be able to update this often all the time, but I will do my best to do it a couple of times each week. Thank you so much for reading and especially for reviewing. Dana xx **


	11. Chapter 11

Derek walked inside his dark office after a long but successful surgery. He didn't bother to turn the light on as he considered about crashing into the small sofa and get a little sleep. As he lay down, Derek kicked off his shoes, brought his arms behind his head and gazed out the window, watching the rain streaming down the window. Watching the rain, his thoughts drifted to two people he missed the most; two people he hadn't seen in nearly a month. He missed feeling Morgan's warmth in his arms, her whimpers and her piercing eyes watching him; he missed having Meredith by his side, snapping at him each time she thought he was doing something wrong with Morgan, the blush in her cheeks each time he was getting closer to her or simply her presence. He hated the exile he put himself into, especially when Mark was refusing to answer his phone and Meredith and Morgan were alone.

Derek patted the pocket of his lab coat and took out his phone. He flipped it open and scrolled down through the phone numbers. He pressed dial and waited, although he knew already none would answer. The surprise was big when he heard the connection and someone like panting at the other end of the line. Derek jumped up, "Mark?"

"Hey, Derek," Mark answered.

Derek was speechless for a brief second. He had been trying to call him since the day he found out who was Morgan's father. He had tried for so many times to get in touch with Mark and now he couldn't remember what he wanted to say to him. "Are you ignoring my phone calls now?" Derek asked.

"What are you talking about? I just answered," Mark answered. "If you tried to call me before, then yeah… I was in Europe for a Conference."

Derek relaxed a little at that answer. "Did you to talk to Meredith?"

He heard Mark's groan as he asked him that. "Don't start again."

"So you didn't talk to her," Derek concluded.

"I didn't and please stop with this," Mark asked, letting out another annoyed groan.

"I know everything, Mark," Derek said in a serious tone. "You're Morgan's father." As he said that, Derek heard the shock in Mark's breathing.

"She told you," Mark answered dryly.

"No, but your daughter has the same birthmark on her waist as you," Derek replied, reproachful. "What are you doing, Mark?"

"I am sitting in the bed, with a beer in my hand and I am talking to you," Mark replied sarcastically.

"How can you be so carefree towards your daughter's life?" Derek scolded.

There was a short pause coming from Mark's side and Derek knew he had added more irritation with that question.

"What is your problem, Derek? You can't sleep at night because I don't want to be a father?"

"Mark, you're not like this. You are irresponsible, but you're not heartless," Derek answered. "She's your daughter… your blood. She is… you."

"Derek, lets set the things clear," Mark said calmly. "I didn't want her to keep the baby. I didn't want her to keep it because we did not have a relationship. We just fooled around a couple of times. I didn't want her to keep the baby because I was not ready for such a huge commitment. I can see that you're in great pain because of this and I am going to spare you of it by asking you to take care of them for me." Derek wanted to say something, but Mark's words came out flowingly. "If you care about them as I think you do, then be with them. As you said… I am not heartless. I will help Meredith if she will ever need money for the baby, but this is the only help I can offer her. I am not heartless because I want the baby to be ok and this means she should not know me."

"She's your daughter," Derek muttered, stunned by Mark's speech.

"Legally, she is not," Mark pointed out as he referred to the papers he had signed regarding his parental rights. Derek heard him sighing then. "I know she's somewhere out there. I will never forget about her existence, but I am not a good father and a role model for her. You know me."

"You didn't even see her,"

"If you're going to stay in their lives as I know you will, then I am sure I will see her one day," Mark answered.

"And you'll be … what? Uncle Mark?" Derek frowned, still not liking Mark's ideas, though it sounded tempting for him. Tempting and in the same time, wrong.

"I don't know. We'll figure out about that part when the time will come," Mark answered.

"Mark," Derek disapproved with a sigh.

"Be with them, Derek. I can't. If you love Meredith and you can't be with her because of me or your… conscience, then you have my blessing. You can love her and she can love you. I wouldn't choose anyone else to be father for my… for the baby," Mark trailed off. "Call me after you sort out your thoughts and feelings. I'd like to know what's going on with you," with those last words, the line went dead.

Derek kept holding the phone to his ear, staring blankly. He was free to go back to them. He just didn't know if Meredith would want him back into her life… at least as friend.

--

Meredith carried Morgan outside the house and took her to her car. Beside her car Ellis had her car parked as well.

"I left you another list of nannies I selected," Ellis said as she opened the door to her car.

"I'll take a look over it," Meredith grumbled while strapping the baby in her car seat.

"I know I am bugging you with this, but you start the work at the hospital in two weeks and you still haven't found a nanny for Morgan. I am leaving tomorrow for Boston, so I can't help you anymore each time you want to leave the house," Ellis replied, visibly irritated by the indifference that her daughter showed to that topic.

Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling at Morgan, and got out of the car, turning to face her mother. "We are going to be late for our walk," she answered and shut the door before she walked around the car to go to the driver seat.

"What's with this hurry? Are you meeting someone?" Ellis asked suspiciously.

"I am meeting the sunny weather, mom," Meredith rolled down the window to talk to her mother. "I don't want the weather to turn rainy again exactly when we get there. I will look over your list as soon as I get home," she said and turned the ignition on.

Ellis shook her head disapprovingly as she watched her daughter driving away.

Luckily, it was still sun outside. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon in Seattle and the park looked animated by all kind of noises. Meredith took the stroller out of the trunk and then took Morgan from her car seat. She strapped her back, this time in her stroller, rearranged her hat over her head and then pushed the stroller to the park. Meredith walked slowly along the alleys, just enjoying the warm sun and the beautiful view that November offered to the park. She felt carefree as she walked along the alleys, just her and her daughter.

Each time she remembered him, she missed him. She couldn't allow herself to miss him anymore. Nearly two months had passed since Derek walked away from them and Meredith continued to tell herself that she didn't need him. She didn't need him or anyone else to feel complete. It was easy to say it, but it was harder to feel it.

When they got to a more crowded area of the park and two children ran past her stroller, Morgan started crying. Meredith quickly pulled the stroller to a bench and she took a seat as she took Morgan out of the stroller. "That's all right. Mommy is still here," Meredith slowly bounced Morgan on her knees while she talked softly to her.

As she found herself back into her mother's arms, Morgan stopped from crying and put her head on Meredith's chest, sucking on her thumb as she watched the people around her. Meredith gently rubbed her back as she continued bouncing her, now and then breathing her in.

Meredith gave her one of her toys and Morgan excitedly started jingle it. "Oh look," Meredith whispered in her ear and had her attention for a brief second. "There's the really old guy," she said, discreetly pointing across the park, on another alley, to an old man who was standing on a bench, reading from a magazine. As answer, Morgan looked up at her, smiling, and poked her in the face with the toy. "Baby," Meredith winced and caught Morgan's hand before she could hit her again. "Play nice."

Morgan stuffed the toy into her mouth, now and then jingling it with joy. Meredith rested her cheek against Morgan's head as she gazed at the old man. "I think he is alone too," she muttered. "I wonder why; he seems to be a nice man," she said, mostly talking to herself, as Morgan didn't show any interest in her mother's words. "That's sad."

In that moment, a young couple passed by in front of them, pushing a stroller. That had Morgan's attention, which followed them with her eyes as if she understood anything from that scene.  
"Don't be jealous," Meredith whispered in her ear, glaring at the couple. "I am sure they are not as happy as they seem. I bet they argue and fight a lot," she grumbled, although she didn't believe it.

Morgan smiled up at her and poked her with her toy again, giggling at her mother's pain. "Would you like us to fight too?" Meredith laughed, tickling her stomach. The baby laughed and snuggled in her mother's chest. Meredith kissed her forehead, smiling. The bond she had with her daughter had helped her go through the sad and hard time she had for the last two months.

As she looked at Morgan, Meredith saw her staring at someone and smiling. It wasn't for the first time she saw her doing that. Each time she tried to follow her gaze, Meredith couldn't see what was catching Morgan's attention. This time she was faster.

--

N/A: In case you got confused, Derek managed to talk to Mark a month later after he found out who was Morgan's father and then the scene with Meredith and Morgan is placed a month later from Derek's talk with Mark, so two months passed since Meredith last saw Derek.


	12. Chapter 12

Derek looked away quickly when their eyes met for less than a second. He still didn't have the courage to go and talk to her, apologize for walking away like that. He felt ashamed of himself; ashamed of what he had done and ashamed of what he was doing. Derek started walking down the alley, slowly as if he was trying not to get her attention, though he knew he got it already. Lost in his thoughts and questions, Derek didn't notice that his feet led him to a bench where an old man was sitting.

"You'd better go talk to her if you don't want me to believe that you're a stalker and call the police," the old man said, without looking up from his magazine.

Derek stared at him, confused. Of course, someone had to notice his long-distance hover over the woman and her baby and the really old guy- as Meredith had named him- was right. As he looked into Meredith's direction, Derek felt a lump in his throat when he met her gaze and her tears. It hurt him to see the tears reflecting into her eyes and all these only because of his stupid judgment. He had lost too much from their lives, time he would never be able to get back. He couldn't allow more time to pass. Derek started walking towards them and his features became sadder as he saw her eyes falling down at her daughter. He didn't know what she would say, if she would agree to be at least friends again. He knew she was still alone; there wasn't a man in her life. Each time he saw them in the park, they were alone- besides one time when Ellis accompanied them.

Meredith felt her eyes and her cheeks burning as she anticipated his arrival. She didn't know what he would say or what she would say to him. She didn't know what the status of their relationship was at that time. Why was he back? Why was he there? Had he been stalking her? If yes, for how long? There were so many questions she wanted to snap at him with, but she knew she would soften her voice once he would sit beside her.

Morgan shyly hid her face into her mother's chest when Derek stopped in front of them.

"Meredith," his voice rather pleaded as he talked to her.

Morgan was the one who looked up at him, staring at him with curious eyes while chewing her toy.

Meredith brushed her cheek against Morgan's head before she flashed Derek a smile. "Hi." She felt her heart drumming inside her chest when Derek sat down beside her.

Derek smiled at little Morgan and only dared to touch her hand with his finger. "How have you been?" He didn't know which was the best way to start a conversation after such a long time.

"Good. We've been good," Meredith muttered, still hiding her face behind her daughter's head.

"She has grown so much," he said, smiling down at Morgan- who was still staring at him with curiosity. As he said that, Morgan laughed and excitedly shook her toy with both hands.

"She's nearly three month old," Meredith answered, smiling as well at Morgan.

Those words added to his pain. He lost two months for nothing. "Next week she will turn three month," he said. Meredith glanced at him and just nodded. "Listen," he said softly, looking for the best way to explain the situation. It hurt him when Meredith refused to look at him. "I am sorry I… didn't come back."

Meredith smiled weakly. "That's ok," she muttered.

"That's not ok. I just found it difficult to accept… hard," he explained.

Meredith raised her look and their eyes met in a deep gaze. "You don't have to find it difficult. You don't need to make sacrifices and suffer because of me. You can go and have your conscious clean because this has nothing to do with you. You don't need to suffer because of me; I am not worth it. I would do the same if I were you."

"Meredith," Derek smiled softly.

"No," she shook her head. "I liked your friendship. I miss your friendship, but I can't blame you for not coming back. Mark and I fooled around and …" she stopped and looked away as if she was embarrassed. "It was nice," she said quietly. "At least I found it nice… for a while," as she glanced at Derek, Meredith saw the question in his eyes. "You want to know how long we… fooled around," she concluded.

"No,"

"Around three months I think," she answered anyway. It was time to tell Derek everything, no matter what would come after for their relationship. "We didn't have a relationship," she said it as if she wanted to reassure him of that.

"Why did you want to keep the baby?" he asked.

Meredith smiled to hide her embarrassment and kissed Morgan on the cheek. "I think it was the way he treated me after I told him about the baby. I didn't want to keep it," she admitted, looking at him. "I just thought I should tell him about it too, though I knew he would ask me to abort it. His attitude toward me afterwards made me keep it, because I knew I could pay it back for his behavior."

Derek didn't like to admit it, but that sounded like Mark.

"You don't have to be here for mercy," she muttered.

"I am here because I want to be here," Derek gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I talked to Mark."

Meredith looked at him and smiled. "That's why you're here. Because you couldn't get anything from him. You feel sorry for me."

"I am in love with you," he answered and smiled as she looked at him, shocked. "I wanted time to make sure that this was a good thing… coming back to you and Morgan. I am sure now. I blamed myself for not convincing myself of that as soon as I talked to Mark. He doesn't deserve you and Morgan."

Meredith had tears in her eyes as she listened to his words. He sounded so honest and loving. She secretly hoped he would come back, at least as friend. "Are you sure?" she muttered, hiding the tremor in her voice.

"I am very sure," he reassured and leaned in, softly kissing her on the lips.

She closed her eyes and her heart started beating faster in her chest as she waited for his lips. Her eyes stayed closed when Derek pulled away, still tasting his flavor on his lips. "Isn't this a little awkward?" she asked him, slowly opening her eyes. "You, me and Morgan and Mark?"

"It is," he admitted. "But I am sure it will become less awkward," Derek assured. "Can I hold her?" he asked.

Meredith smiled and nodded as she shifted Morgan from her lap in Derek's hands. Morgan let out a whimper as her mother disturbed her play with her toy, but she calmed down once she was safe in Derek's embrace. Derek watched her and lovingly caressed her cheek. "I missed you so much, Baby Morgan. You've grown so much."

As answer, Morgan smiled at him and hit him in his head with her toy. "I guess I deserve that," Derek laughed and kissed her. He put Morgan back into the stroller and then stood up and held out his hand for Meredith.

As Meredith stood up, his arms wrapped around her, holding her pressed her against his body. They looked into each other's eyes and slowly their lips met.

"I've dreamed to a moment and a kiss like this since day one," he smiled, his fingers caressing her lips.

"You couldn't have done this then," she pointed out and Derek chuckled as he remembered.

"I am sorry it took me so long to come back," he said softly. "So sorry."

"You had reasons," she reassured him.

"Let's take a walk while the weather is still sunny," Derek suggested and Meredith agreed gladly. He started pushing the stroller with one hand, while his other one was holding Meredith's waist. "I noticed you give her bottle," he said.

Meredith looked at him, surprised to hear his observation. "My resources ended unfortunately," she explained.

"Oh. How is she doing on the formula?"

Meredith winced and shook her head. "I am at the fourth brand now,"

"She wants to check the market first," Derek chuckled. "I also noticed that your mother is still around," he said, eager to find every little detail he missed from their lives.

Meredith stopped and looked at him, slightly worried. "How long have you been stalking us?"

Derek smiled nervously and looked ahead as he answered. "A while," he admitted.

"I missed you, Derek, but I've always found creepy this stalking thing you do," she said, serious.

Derek smiled at her and nodded. "But I am done with the stalking now that I am here," he promised.

"I hope so," Meredith muttered under breath.

"Finally!"

As they passed by the bench where the 'really old guy' was sitting, the man put his magazine aside and leaned forward to the stroller. "Hello, pretty girl! Happy now?" he asked Baby Morgan and as answer, Morgan hit him in his face with her toy.

"Morgan!" Meredith grabbed the toy out of her hands, making her cry. "We're sorry about this. She likes to hit people," she apologized to the old man.

The old man smiled at her nodding and then gave a knowing wink to Derek. Derek smiled gratefully in return for his little push from earlier.

"Maybe we should stay friends until… it becomes less awkward," Meredith suggested as they picked up their walk. She could see he wasn't very happy with that thought.

"If that makes you feel better," he agreed and pressed his lips against her temple.

--

As she stayed in Morgan's room, watching Derek rocking the baby until she drifted to sleep, Meredith felt once more overwhelmed by the sudden change in her life. Having Derek back into her life felt like everything was back to normal, as if Derek had been part of her life for more than 2 months.

"I am sorry that you can't breast feed her, but it feels amazing to feed her myself," Derek said quietly, grinning up at Meredith.

Meredith smiled at his enthusiasm and walked over to the rocking chair, crouching in front of them. "She's been on formula milk for over two weeks now and she keeps losing weight," she said, gently caressing her daughter's hair.

Derek looked at her, concerned. "I am sure it's just a phase. She just needs time to get used to this," he tried to reassure her.

Meredith smiled and nodded, unconvinced. "That's what the Pediatrician told me. Let's put her to bed," she stood up and held out her arms to take Morgan.

Derek pulled Morgan closer to him, pleading Meredith with his eyes. "One more minute."

Meredith gave him a stern look, but she ended up by rolling her eyes and letting her arms drop to her sides. "I will go take a shower."

"Thank you, Mommy," Derek chuckled as he waved Morgan's hand.

"Don't get used to it," Meredith giggled as she turned and walked out the room.

When she came out of the shower, Meredith wrapped a bathrobe around her and walked outside, convinced that she would find Derek still holding Morgan. She went straight to Morgan's room and opened the door slowly. Looking inside, Meredith saw that Derek wasn't there. She tiptoed to the crib- which was lighted by a dim pink light- and smiled as she saw her baby's peaceful sleep.

Meredith frowned as she asked herself where Derek had been sticking his nose this time. She left Morgan's room, leaving the door half-opened, and went to change into some sweats before going to check on Derek. Meredith started when she walked into her room and found Derek sitting on the bed, reading some papers.

"Have you found any?" Derek asked her, referring at the Nanny lists she had all over the place.

Meredith rolled her eyes as she closed the bedroom door and walked over to the bed, crawling inside beside him. "No," she said and grabbed the papers out of his hands.

Derek didn't let himself intimidated by her annoyance and reached for the papers, flipping her onto her back. As he lay on top of her, Derek gave up on taking the papers back and looked deep into her eyes. He brushed the hair out her face and cupped her cheek as he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

The papers fell off her hand as she closed her eyes, already sprung by the feeling of his body pressing against hers. Her breath accelerated as his sweet breath brushed against her lips and eagerly parted her lips, looking for his tongue. Derek mounted her, having her body entirely beneath his now, and took her face in his hands as they kissed.

"Derek," she moaned while her hands looked for the hem to his shirt. "We can't…" but despite her protest, her gestures were inviting him for more.

Derek pulled his head back, breaking the kiss, and smiled as he caressed her cheek. "I am not looking for an affair, Meredith," he said softly… lovingly.

Meredith smiled, biting her lip, and looked away as if she was embarrassed of something.

Derek fought back a laugh and managed to joke. "You're not virgin, I hope."

Meredith laughed along with him and punched him in his arm. "I am just extremely horny. I am woman who hasn't had sex in over a year, so … if you are not planning on going further then I am pleading you to stop and move off me."

Derek smiled crookedly and started unbuttoning his shirt. Meredith gasped discreetly and felt her body heating on the outside and inside. Derek disposed his shirt to the floor and unbuckled his belt, which also joined to the shirt. He watched her flushed his cheeks and found extremely sweet and seductive in the same time the passion written in her eyes. He untied the bathrobe and parted it, slipping it to the sides of her shoulders. Derek gave himself a moment to watch her beautiful, thin body, her skin – which looked so soft in the dim light of Meredith's room.

Meredith shrugged out of the robe and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding his face between her hands while her lips crashed against his. Derek kissed her passionately, his tongue exploring her taste, before he started kissing her all over her face. Her cheeks, her nose, her jaw, her earlobe, each spot brought a new moan of pleasure from her as his lips touched them. He moved lower to her body, tracing the outline of her body with both hands, for the first time feeling its soft skin. He could feel her body trembling of pleasure under his touch.

Derek traced kissed down to her collar, lower to her chest and stomach, while hands swiftly found playing with her breasts, massaging them eagerly, pinching their nipples for more moans.

"Derek," she moaned louder, her body arching to him while her fingers clutched into his hair. She felt her thighs throbbing as his lips were moving lower than her stomach. Her fingers stumbled over the zipper to his pants, but once she managed to pull it down, she pushed the pants off his hips. Derek knelt beside her, lowering his pants down to his knees, and quickly pulling them off. Freed a little, Derek returned to Meredith, laying on top of her, and kissed her softly on the lips while he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, looking into her eyes.

Meredith furrowed her brows as if his compliment was an offense. "I just gave birth to baby."

Derek chuckled. It was so typical for a woman not to see her beauty anymore once she gave birth to a baby. They all felt fat and old, and Meredith didn't seem to be an exception. "I was there when you give birth and I can assure you that you gave birth to your baby a long time ago."

Meredith scrunched her nose and smiled, a little more confident in his words. She wrapped a leg around his waist and rolled him over so that she could mount him. She leaned down and kissed him before she took his hands and brought them to her waist. "I hope you have condoms."

His smile froze on his lips as she said that. Of course she wasn't on birth control, considering that she hadn't been allowed to have sex until recently and he didn't think at all at that concern.

"Derek," Meredith groaned desperately.

"I have one," he said quickly. "In my wallet."

"Just one?" Meredith groaned. "I am so going to get pregnant again tonight," she muttered as she leaned over the edge of the bed to pick up Derek's pants.


	13. Chapter 13

Meredith whimpered as her alarm clock woke her up from the peaceful and restful sleep she had in Derek's arms that night. Neither of them had been willing to go out and buy protection, both preferring to stay together as much as possible. Though her needs hadn't been entirely satisfied, Meredith had to admit to herself that having Derek's arms around her all night felt heavenly.

"I need to go," she muttered, trying to unlock Derek's hands from her stomach.

Derek groaned as he reached for her cheek and kissed her. "Let me go see what she wants," he said, already pushing the blanket off him but not leaving her body yet.

"You don't have to," she muttered.

"I know," Derek opened his eyes and kissed her bare shoulder. "But I want to."

Meredith gave up. She was too sleepy to go deal with Morgan at that early hour, so Derek's help was more than welcomed. "She has a bottle in the refrigerator."

"I know," Derek chuckled and leaned down kissing her one more time before he got out of the bed. He pulled his boxers on and rubbed his eyes, banishing the sleep, as he walked outside.

He turned the lights on in Morgan's room and saw her tiny body wiggling in the crib as she cried. Derek walked over to her crib and leaned down, picking her up. "Good morning you too, Baby Morgan," he a wide smile lightened his face as he cradled her into his arms, kissing her cheeks.

Baby Morgan didn't answer in any way to Derek's greeting and kept crying.

"Don't cry. Derek's here now!" he said softly, soothing her. "And he's going to stay here from now on," he added as if that was the reason for her weeping. "You must be starving," Derek concluded in the end, as he found her weeping very deafening. "I will take care of your breakfast in a second, so calm down," he said softly, pacing around the room a little, hoping he would calm her down.

"Who are you?" The reproachful, unfamiliar voice made Derek stop from pacing. As he turned and looked at the door, Derek saw Ellis in the doorway, glaring at him.

"Dr. Shepherd," she recognized him, surprised to see him there at that hour. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked inside and came to him and Morgan.

Derek was speechless for a moment, shocked and embarrassed at the same time to meet Meredith's mother at that hour and wearing almost nothing. "I came to see Meredith," he mumbled.

"I found out last night about that," Ellis grumbled and took Morgan from his arms. She cradled her into her arms, patting her back. "Where's Meredith?" she asked Derek, frowning.

"She's still sleeping," Derek mumbled.

Ellis shook her head disapprovingly and kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "I need to go now, so …" she stopped as she watched Derek for a moment, before she handed Morgan back. "You'd better take good care of my granddaughter," she smoothed the pajama on the baby's back and turned to leave. "Tell Meredith I will call her later," she announced while walking outside the room.

Derek stared at the doorway a moment longer after Ellis left. His gaze broke when Meredith showed up, scared. "You saw my mom?" she asked.

Derek nodded. Meredith sighed and leaned her back against the doorway. "I forgot to tell you she was here," she muttered. "What did she say?"

"She lives with you now?" Derek asked Meredith as he walked over to her.

"She's just visiting," Meredith answered, smiling as she caressed Morgan's cheek. The baby kept crying and held her hands out to go to her Mommy. Meredith took her into her arms and as she cradled the baby to her chest, Morgan started patting on her breast. "I need to feed her," Meredith said as she turned and walked out on the hall.

"Your mother said she would call you later," Derek announced.

Meredith just nodded, "I heard that part." She stopped then and smiled at Derek. "Do you want to hold her while I heat up her bottle?"

Derek smiled, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "I do," he answered, still staring at her, and took Morgan back. "Why?"

"Why 'why'?" Meredith giggled as she started walking ahead.

But as Derek put Morgan to his chest, holding her head on his shoulder, he found out the reason. She was screaming deafeningly into his ear.

"That too," Meredith laughed as she heard his groan. "She also keeps hitting my breasts."

"Is it this difficult?" Derek asked. He saw Meredith sighing and nodded.

Meredith had three bottles of milk in the refrigerator, prepared from three different milk formulas. As she heated the first one, she gave it to Derek so that he could try feed Morgan. Morgan finally stopped from crying when she saw the nipple coming to her mouth. As she took it into her mouth, she spit it out quickly and started screaming again. Meredith gave Derek the second bottle, but Baby Morgan decided she didn't like that one either.

"Are you sure this one will work?" Derek asked as he took the third bottle. He was getting a little worried to see Morgan refusing to eat.

"Usually it works at the third bottle," Meredith let out a sigh and waited to see if Morgan would like the third option.

Derek gave Morgan the bottle, but Morgan was firm. She spit it out as soon as she tasted the milk.

"I'll try a new one," Meredith muttered as she walked over to the cupboard and took out another milk formula.

"Is this normal?" Derek asked, standing up and rocking Morgan back and forth, hoping he would calm her down a little.

"I don't know," Meredith sighed. "The doctor says it's normal for them to refuse certain milk formulas, but she refuses all of them. She said they just need some time to get used to it."

Meredith prepared a new bottle of milk and gave it to Derek, hoping that would be the one. That was actually the only milk formula Morgan hadn't tried that morning. Meredith tried a little trick and put some sugar syrup on the nipple, hoping the baby would like it better. Morgan wasn't impressed with her Mommy's idea as she refused to take the bottle and her weeping started to sound hysterical.

"Hey, calm down now," Derek pleaded as he paced around the kitchen, rocking her back and forth. As he looked up at Meredith, he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Mer," he said softly as he walked to her.

"I am such a bad mother," Meredith muttered as her eyes gazed on her baby. "I don't know what to do anymore," she muttered before her voice cracked and she started sobbing.

Derek shifted Morgan in one arm and wrapped the other around Meredith as he pulled her to him. "Don't say that," he said softly, kissing her on the forehead. "We'll figure out what we have to do."

Meredith sunk her face in his shoulder as she cried. "I deserve this. I deserve all these," she sobbed. Derek rested his cheeks against her forehead as he held her into his arm.

"What if we give her some water," he suggested.

"Water?" Meredith pulled back and looked at him, confused. "That's not nutritive."

Derek looked at Morgan, who was still crying and wiggling in his arms. He ran his finger across her tiny forehead and wiped the sweat. "Maybe she needs some water to calm down and maybe then she would want to eat."

Meredith shrugged and complied with Derek's suggestion. She had no other idea of how to feed her daughter so she was ready to try anything. "It can't be cold," she said, confused as she took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

"Heat it up just a little," Derek suggested.

After she heated it up, Meredith checked its temperature and gave the bottle to Derek. Morgan tasted the water, but she refused to have that as well.

"See?" Meredith was on the edge on a new burst as she saw her daughter's refuse.

Derek had to admit that he was also clueless. He didn't have much experience with the babies in the past and this situation overwhelmed him a little. "I am going to make a phone call," he said and gave Morgan back to Meredith.

"Who are you going to call?" Meredith asked.

"Someone who had many children," Derek answered and walked out the kitchen. He went into the living room and picked up the phone. He dialed a number as he paced anxiously around the room.

"Hello," A sleepy voice answered after several rings.

"Mom," Derek sighed with relief.

"Derek? What's wrong? Do you have any idea what time is?" his mother scolded.

"Mom, I have … a situation," Derek explained.

"A situation? What kind of situation?" his mother sounded rather concerned than nervous now.

"I… uh…" he tried to explain, just then realizing he hadn't told his mom about Meredith. "I am uh… visiting a friend and… she has a baby."

"You're visiting a she at this hour?" his mother asked, chuckling. "Mark told me something about this."

"Mark?" Derek asked surprised. "What did Mark tell you?"

"He told me you met someone in Seattle and that she's a single mom," his mother answered.

Derek couldn't help but wonder why had Mark told his mother about that.

"So what's the situation?" his mother asked.

"Uh… we can't find the way to feed the baby," Derek answered. "She's three month old and her mother can't breast feed her anymore. We tried several milk formulas, but she refuses all of them," he explained.

Then he heard his mother sighing. "That reminds me of you."

Derek was surprised to hear that detail. "What should we do now?"

"Bear," she answered.

"Bear?" Derek asked, confused.

"She will eat at some point. Babies don't starve themselves to death. From time to time, try to give her a bottle. Any bottle. I can assure you she will eat any milk formula."

"Ok," Derek sighed, but a little more relieved now that he had his mother assurance that Morgan would want to eat at one point.

"I am expecting you to tell me about her," she said.

"I will," Derek smiled. "Thanks, mom."

"Goodbye, Derek,"

"Bye," Derek hung up the phone and went back to Meredith.

As he walked back into kitchen, Derek found Meredith sitting in a chair and rocking her baby- both of the crying. He took a random bottle of milk and handed it to Meredith. "Try this one," he told her.

Meredith wiped her cheeks before she took the bottle and looked up at him. "What makes you believe she wants this? We already tried it."

Derek smiled reassuringly. "Just try and if she doesn't like it, then we'll take her back to her room."

"And let her starve?" Meredith snapped, glaring at him. "Is this the kind of education you prefer!"

"It's not about education," Derek smiled. "She won't starve herself to death, so she will eat. And we take her there just to make it easier for us too. Now try one more time," he insisted.

Meredith looked at him as she took the bottle. She sighed and tried to give the bottle to the baby. Both of them were surprised when they saw Morgan sucking from it.

"Who taught you this?" Meredith laughed, amazed to see her daughter finally calming and sucking from her bottle.

Derek crouched in front of them and smiled, caressing Morgan's head. "Apparently, I was like Morgan when I was a baby," he admitted, grinning at Meredith.

"You called your mom?" Meredith asked, surprised.

Derek gave her a genuine smile. "It appears that she knows about you," he said. "From Mark."

"Mark?" Meredith frowned, finding surprising what Derek was telling her. "Mark told your mom about me?"

"I know. I don't know what's going on in his head," Derek said, shaking his head.

"And your mom knows that you're here?"

Derek reached out for his lips and kissed her softly. "Stop doubting of yourself. You are an extraordinary mother. It's just a rougher time right now. There will come more, but we'll figure them out," he smiled reassuringly as he brushed the hair out her face and tucked it behind the ear.

"We?" Meredith smiled.

Derek smiled and reached for her lips again. "We. I promised Baby Morgan this morning that I would be here for her and for her mommy."

Derek stood up and pulled a chair in front of them to sit down and be close to them. "I don't dare to ask you to let me feed her. I don't think she would like to be disturbed."

"I don't think so either," Meredith giggled and smiled down at Morgan, who was sucking from the bottle.

"How is it going with your mother?" Derek asked.

Meredith smiled at him and shrugged. "She has been working on a research with Mercy West for the last month and she was… kind of helpful with Morgan. She loves her."

"That how it's supposed to be," Derek pointed.

"I guess," Meredith shrugged. "My mom wasn't much around when I was a child. It's… strange to see her with a baby. It makes me wonder if she was like this with me too."

"I am sure she was," Derek reassured her. "Maybe she just doesn't like showing her feelings too much."

"Maybe," Meredith muttered. "I tend to hide mine a lot."

"That's not good," he shook his head and smiled genuinely as Meredith looked at him, sad.

"She's leaving today,"

"So I came back in time," Derek chuckled. As he said that, Derek noticed the disappointment in her eyes. "I could have come earlier," he admitted quietly.

"You could have," Meredith muttered under her breath. "What time do you have to be at the hospital?"

"I will call and tell them I will be late," he answered. "I want to spend the morning with you two."

Meredith giggled and leaned down kissing her daughter. "You didn't choose the best morning to spend with us," she smiled at him when Derek looked at her, confused. "She's having a bad morning. We're having a bad morning. She has never behaved like this until now. Not wanting to eat anything and screaming like that."

"This is the most wonderful morning I've spent in a long time. Probably the last best morning I remember was at the age of 10."

"What happened when you were 10?" she asked him curiously.

Derek laughed. "It was the last Christmas I believed in Santa."

"10?" Meredith smiled, surprised.

"Don't tell me you were a young lady already when you found out that Santa doesn't really exist," he laughed teasingly.

Meredith just smiled sadly. "I was 6 I think."

Derek frowned completely displeased to hear that.

"I had a Nanny at that time, which I didn't like much. She didn't like me much either and one day, I think it was a few days before Christmas, we had a fight over something and then she blurted it out that Santa doesn't exist."

"And your mom didn't deny it? She didn't hurry to reassure you of Santa's existence?" Derek asked, sounding almost outraged.

Meredith smiled. "She didn't bother. She said I would be a young lady soon anyway. Let's change the subject," she asked. "And don't feel sorry for me. I survived."

Derek couldn't help but smile sympathetically at her.

"I need to change her diaper now and give her some clean clothes," Meredith said after Morgan finished her meal. "You can go take a shower if you want to."

"I don't want to," Derek smiled. "I want to change her diaper and give her clean clothes."

"Of course you do," Meredith laughed. "How silly of me."

"Exactly," Derek laughed too and carefully took Morgan from Meredith. "Let's make you a clean girl because we want to see you smiling today. We don't like cranky Morgan," he started talking to Morgan as he carried her outside the kitchen.

When Meredith came out from the shower, she found Derek and Morgan in her bed, lying beside each other. "Is she feeling better?" Meredith smiled as she walked over to the bed. She lay down beside them and took Morgan's hand, who was now smiling at her Mommy.

"Much better," Derek answered, kissing the hand he was holding. "Keep her like this while I take a shower," he leaned to Meredith and kissed her before he kissed Morgan's hand one more time.

Meredith stood up after Derek left to the bathroom and taking Morgan into her arms, she moved on the pillows and leaned her back against the headboard, cradling her. That was how Derek found them a few minutes later when he returned to them. He walked around the bed and crawled beside Meredith, sneaking an arm around her shoulders and making her lean her body against his. He closed his eyes as he breathed in the scent of her hair and kissed her.

"This feels heavenly," he said quietly. "I love you, Meredith and I don't want us to feel awkward with each other anymore. I want to stop thinking of Morgan as Mark's daughter."

"I don't want to see you two ending your relationship because of me," she muttered.

"We're still friends," he reassured. "I don't think I can give up on my friendship with Mark. We've known each other since we were kids. I just want to be selfish and forget that he was part of your life."

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. "I want you to be selfish too. I think I am ready to move forward. But…" she stopped, hesitating.

"But what?" he asked.

Meredith didn't want to tell him she was thinking about their future. She was imaging her life with Derek by her side from that moment and she was too ashamed to tell him about it. Maybe their relationship wouldn't work and then, Mark would never show up in their life and play an awkward role of uncle or mysterious father. She nestled in Derek's arms, resting her head on shoulder. "I need to find her a Nanny," she said, changing the subject.

Derek noticed that and didn't like it, but he decided not to say anything about it, understanding the uncomfortable situation they were in at that moment.

"We'll find her," he reassured.

Meredith smiled at him, always having the warm feeling inside her heart when Derek talked to plural about them. "Or him," she added teasingly.

"Would you hire a man as Nanny?" Derek frowned, visibly displeased to hear that.

"You would be a great Nanny for Morgan," Meredith continued, teasing him.

"But I am a surgeon. I'd love to be her Nanny, but I can't have two jobs," Derek replied, yet not getting the joke.

"Men can be good Nannies," Meredith shrugged.

"Would you seriously hire one?"

"If I find one," she answered.

"I don't think there are too many candidates out there. I didn't see any on your list either,"

"I have many lists," Meredith laughed. "Are you jealous already?"

"Yes," Derek answered frankly.

Meredith smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I have an appointment for an interview at 9:30."

"I am curious to see how this goes. You seem to have seen many people and yet you don't have a nanny,"

"I want the best for my baby. I can't let her alone with anyone," Meredith explained. As she looked down at Morgan, Meredith saw her sleeping and watching her, made her yawn.

"You should get more sleep while I prepare the breakfast," Derek suggested.

Meredith smiled at him and nodded. Derek took her chin between his fingers and softly dropped a kiss on her lips. "I'll take her to her room," he said, sliding his hands beneath the baby.

"Derek?" Meredith called him when Derek was about to leave the room.

He stopped and turned to look at her from the doorway.

"Thank you," she smiled and lay down, drawing the blanket over her.


	14. Chapter 14

Later that morning, Meredith was in kitchen, cleaning after their breakfast, while Derek was in her room, getting ready for the day, and Baby Morgan was sleeping in her room. When the clock showed half past nine and the doorbell rang, Meredith threw the rag away and stomped out the room to go answer the door.

As she opened the front door, Meredith saw a grey haired woman, in her late 50s, smiling politely.

"Good morning. My name is Claudia Allen," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

"Meredith Grey," Meredith smiled, shaking her head. "Come on in," she invited her inside and led her into the living room.

"Please, take a seat," Meredith pointed to the couch. "Can I bring you anything before we proceed with the interview?"

Mrs. Allen shook her head, smiling politely. "No. Thank you."

"Ok," Meredith took a seat in a chair across from her. She reached for a paper she had on the coffee table and she was ready to start speaking when Derek walked in.

"You haven't started without me, I hope," he smiled as he made his way to Meredith, smiling at Mrs. Allen. "You must be Mrs. Allen," he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

Mrs. Allen looked a little confused, as if she didn't expect his presence, but she stood up and shook his head. "You must be Mr. Grey," she concluded, smiling sheepishly when Derek chuckled and Meredith looked away embarrassed. "Or not," she said quietly, sitting back down.

"I am Derek Shepherd, actually," he said and pulled a chair next to Meredith.

Mrs. Allen smiled, visibly embarrassed with the confusion. Derek let out another chuckle as he read the question in her eyes. "I am just the baby's best friend, to call it this way."

Meredith cleared her throat, also uncomfortable with the situation. "Tell me some things about yourself, Mrs. Allen."

Derek took her hand and cuddled it in his as they prepared to listen to Mrs. Allen.

"I used to work as nurse in Pediatrics at Mercy West and I retired two years ago," Mrs. Allen went on with the main information about her. "I have two children, grown-ups now. A boy and a girl and they're both doctors so the grandchildren for their mother are on a second plan. I think this is the reason why I want to work as Nanny. I miss having children around."

"I read in your record that you worked 30 years as nurse. How much experience do you have in Pediatrics?" Meredith asked her.

"Nearly 15 years," Mrs. Allen answered. "Before Pediatrics I worked in the ER."

"What made you change the specialization?" she asked then.

"There was a time when the hospital confronted with a lack of staff in Pediatrics and we've been asked if we wanted to work there for a while. It was a tempting opportunity and I decided to stay there," Mrs. Allen answered.

"As you probably know," Derek cut in. "Meredith is a surgical resident so her schedule will be very busy in some of the days, same as mine. How much time can you spend as Nanny?" he asked Mrs. Allen.

"I didn't know that," Mrs. Allen answered frankly, but she didn't look displeased with the information. "I am a widow and I live alone, so I can spend how much time is needed. Considering that the baby is so little and she is sleeping most of the time, I could also do some housework and cooking. Knitting is not one of my favorite activities."

"That's good to know," Derek smiled. "The baby is only 3 month old and she's not going through an easy time as she not breast feed anymore. She cries a lot and doesn't accept any milk formulas, so if you get the job, do you think you can handle this part?"

Meredith discreetly rolled her eyes as Derek kept asking the questions she wanted to ask. As Derek didn't seem to let her ask anything, Meredith just listened to them.

"Throughout my career as nurse, I faced all kind of situations and I saw a lot of behaviors at babies. All you need is patience," Mrs. Allen didn't seem to have any trouble in answering to Derek's questions.

In that moment, they heard Morgan waking up and weeping in her room. "Right in time," Meredith smiled as she stood up. "I will be right back."

While Derek stayed and talked more to Mrs. Allen, Meredith went upstairs to see her baby girl. Morgan calmed down and started sucking her thumb once she was in her mother's arms.

"Hey there sleepy head," Meredith smiled and kissed her. "Mommy and Derek are talking to a nice lady downstairs. You'd better like her as Nanny for you. She worked as nurse and she loves children. She is perfect for you, so please say yes to this one, ok?" Morgan let out a yawn and kept sucking her thumb as she looked at her mother.

Meredith carried Morgan out the room and took her downstairs, where Derek and Mrs. Allen were still talking. They stood up, smiling, when they saw them coming.

"She's the little one?" Mrs. Allen smiled as she took a step towards Meredith.

"She is," Meredith answered and walked over to the place she was. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Of course," Mrs. Allen smiled wider as she opened her arms to receive Morgan.

Morgan took the thumb out of her mouth and carefully looked at the unknown woman. "What's your name, little girl?"

"Her name is Morgan," Derek said, coming by Meredith's side.

Baby Morgan had had a hard morning and right in that moment, she wasn't in the mood for guests. Her tiny forehead wrinkled and she started crying for her mommy.

"Aww, she doesn't know me," Mrs. Allen said softly, handing the baby back to Meredith.

Meredith took Morgan and cradled her into her arms, rocking her back and forth in attempt of calming her down. "I think she needs to have her diaper changed. I'll… call you," she said to Mrs. Allen before she walked out if the room, carrying Morgan to her room.

After he walked Mrs. Allen to the door, Derek came upstairs to talk to Meredith. He found her in Morgan's room, changing her diaper and talking to the baby. Derek walked behind her and wrapped both arms around her, nuzzling through her hair.

"Derek," Meredith giggled, stepping aside.

"What?" he asked, seductively brushing his lips against her neck.

"Morgan," she giggled again.

Derek kissed her on the cheek and hugged her tightly as he propped his chin on her shoulder and smiled down at Morgan. "Consider me your lucky star,"

"Get over yourself," Meredith rolled her eyes smiling.

Derek laughed and kissed her once more before he pulled away. He leaned his back against the table and ran his fingers through her hair.

"You didn't let me say anything," Meredith scolded.

"Did you want to ask her more?" Derek asked.

Meredith rolled her eyes as she shrugged. "Not really. My point is that she came to talk to me."

"Meredith?" Derek asked, serious this time.

"What?" she looked at him, curios.

"I know I am not her father, but will I be allowed to get involved in her … life and education?"

Meredith didn't answer to that and started dressing the baby. Derek didn't like her silence, but he also understood their situation. He came by her side, brushing her hair off her shoulder, and kissed her.

"I think we found a Nanny," he said, changing the subject.

Meredith picked Morgan into her arms and just nodded, smiling at him, although not looking very excited about that.

"We found a Nanny, didn't we?" Derek asked suspiciously. Meredith just shrugged. "Meredith," he sighed. "Ok, tell me why you didn't like her."

"I liked her," Meredith muttered.

"Then?" Derek asked, confused.

Meredith flashed a sheepish smile before she turned her back on his, walking over to the window. "Morgan didn't like her.

Derek stared at her, dumbfounded for a moment. "Are you referring at the fact that Morgan cried in her arms?" Meredith didn't answer verbally. "Meredith, that's so st… silly," Derek laughed as he walked behind her. "She doesn't know her, but she could get to know her and get used with her presence. Any baby cries in a stranger's arms," he pointed out. "That's why you haven't found a nanny yet," he concluded.

"I can't let her with whosoever," Meredith muttered, breathing her baby in.

"She won't be whoever once you get to meet her. You need to give credit to people around you. You have two weeks left until you go back to work and you still don't have a nanny for her. Morgan should have started getting used to her by now," Derek pointed out. "Are planning on taking more months of maternity leave?"

Meredith sat down on the windowsill, gazing out the window. "I won't," she answered quietly. "I miss being in the OR. It's just…"

Derek sat beside her and caressed Morgan's head, who was dozing off. "Hard. I know."

"I will keep looking for a Nanny a few more days and if I don't find any, I will call Mrs. Allen," Meredith concluded.

"Now I have an invitation for you," Derek stated, smirking at her.

"What kind of invitation?" she asked him curiously.

"Invitation to a wedding," he answered.

"Whose wedding?"

"Not ours," Derek laughed and Meredith giggled along with him. "Dr. Preston Burke is getting married to our resident Dr. Christina Yang. I am his best man."

"And I would be?" Meredith asked, already displeased by the idea of going to the wedding.

"My partner. This is a good opportunity to meet the people you will be working with from now on," he said.

Meredith hesitated. "How about Morgan?"

Derek smiled and shook his head. "By that time you are supposed to have a nanny already," he reminded her. "Say yes," he gave her his best genuine smile, hoping he would convince her.

Meredith found herself giggling like a teenager at his smile and therefore, she answered affirmative to his invitation.

"Let me put her in her bed," Derek said, carefully sliding his hands under the baby, picking her up. He leaned down and kissed her, before he slowly put her into her crib.

Derek turned to Meredith then and pulled her into her arms. "I have to go to the hospital," he sighed.

Meredith smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I don't want you to go."

Derek smiled and leaned down, softly kissing her on the lips. "I don't want either," he said and kissed her once more. "I will be back as soon as I am done there."

Meredith nodded and reluctantly let go of him, walking together out of Morgan's room. "Derek?" she stopped him before he could walk into her bedroom. Derek turned to her, waiting. "I want you to get involved in Morgan's life," she smiled and walked past him into the bedroom, not waiting for his answer.

Derek stayed there, smiling, until he snapped back to reality, realizing he had to get ready for the day.


	15. Chapter 15

Meredith was in her bed with Baby Morgan on her chest, playing together, when she heard a car pulling in front of her house. She didn't bother to stand up and look out the window as she knew already who it was. Soon she heard the front door opening and footsteps stepping inside.

"Get ready," Meredith whispered to her baby, lifting her and tossing her up in the air. The baby giggled with delight as her mother lay her back down on her chest. "He's coming," she whispered as she heard footsteps approaching her room. "You need to take my side, baby. I don't feel like going to weddings."

When they heard the door, Baby Morgan put her head down on her mother's chest started sucking her thumb while Meredith sunk her face in her baby's head and just glanced at the door to see Derek walking inside, wearing a black tuxedo.

Each time he had this image in front of him- the baby lying on her mother's chest- Derek stopped and gave himself a moment to contemplate it.

His smile became wider as he snapped back to reality, and walked over to the bed. "How's my baby doing?" he asked, leaning down to take Morgan from Meredith.

"Hey," Meredith slapped his hand, glaring at him. "Wash your hands first."

Derek smiled, rolling his eyes and complied. Though he agreed it was annoying, he wouldn't have accepted someone to touch his baby without washing its hands first. "I will be right back," he chuckled and left for the bathroom.

When he returned, Meredith was in the rocking chair, cradling Morgan in her arms, and just then, Derek noticed that Meredith wasn't wearing a gown or anything suitable for a wedding. Her hair was messy gathered in a bun and she was wearing some sweatpants and a tee shirt.

"I like your outfit," Derek chuckled. "You can't wear that at wedding. The bride will be jealous if you show up like this."

Meredith just flashed him a sarcastic smile, knowing he was mocking her. Derek came and leaned in, taking Morgan into his arms. The baby looked at him, smiled and then put her head down on his shoulder, giggling and sucking her thumb. Derek gave her a kiss and hugged her gently.

"You're not coming," he said with a sigh.

Meredith bit her lip, looking at him, guilty. "I can't Derek. I can't leave her alone," she murmured.

"She won't be alone and you won't be gone for long," he said softly, crouching in front of her. As he did that, Morgan looked up and turned to her mother, throwing her little arm in air. "See?" Derek laughed. "Even Baby Morgan wants you to go and have fun at the wedding."

"I think she was just saying hi," Meredith laughed.

"You think you know them all," Derek answered teasingly. "She wants you to trust her that she's going to be a good girl. She promises she won't go out with her friends or invite boys over while you're gone."

Meredith frowned, displeased to hear that. "Do you mind if I don't think about that right now?"

Derek chuckled and leaned forward, catching her lips with a soft kiss.

"What people will say if we show up together at the wedding?" she asked. She wasn't really interested in what people would say; she stopped caring what the others might say.

Derek stood up, kissed the baby and the baby let out a sigh as she kept her head down his shoulder. "Nobody will be surprised," he answered.

"I know, but what people would say about us?"

Derek stayed quiet for a moment, rocking the baby, and watched Meredith. From the expression from his face, Meredith knew he wanted to say something. "What is it?"

"Don't get mad," he smiled. "I have nothing to do with this," he wanted to reassure her before telling her. Meredith raised her brows as she waited for him to continue. "They think we are a couple."

"Oh," she muttered, thoughtfully biting her lip. That wasn't a false gossip. She did tell herself she didn't care about what people say about her and Derek, but a little she did care. She cared because despite all, she was also preparing to become a surgeon. Meredith noticed Derek's silence and as she looked up, she knew there was more.

"They think we have a baby together also," he added quietly. "The news spread quickly when that… confusion came up," he said, referring at the evening when Meredith and her baby came to hospital under the name of Shepherd and everyone thought he was the father. "And they didn't seem to pay attention to the rectification we made," he added quietly, afraid of making Meredith angry on him.

Meredith stared at him, completely shocked. It was a mixed feeling she was having in that moment. Derek didn't seem bothered by the gossips and that made her feel somewhat happy.

As Derek was still waiting for her reaction, Meredith struggled for words. "I… uh… I can't leave her alone, Derek."

Derek knew she was avoiding the answer to what he had said, but he also knew the real reason she didn't want to go with him to the wedding. "You need to get used to this, Meredith. If you don't want to take her to the daycare, then you have to hire someone to take care of her."

"I know," Meredith frowned, admitting with a sigh. "I guess I will call Mrs. Allen and tell her she has the job."

"I don't want to discourage you, but you are doing it a little too late," Derek pointed out. "Any other family would have hired her right away."

"Maybe she's still waiting," Meredith grumbled. She knew he was right and now she was blaming herself for her stupid reasoning. She had seen other nannies after the interview she had with Mrs. Allen and of course, Morgan cried each time any of them held her.

"You liked other women you talked to," he said. "I think we should choose one and call her right away."

"But I don't feel like going now, Derek," Meredith frowned and leaned in to take Morgan from Derek.

Derek pulled away, refusing to let her go. "Meredith, you need to start trusting people. You need to go out and interact with people. Mrs. Andrea is your neighbor and she gladly offered to come and stay with Morgan today. She knows you since you were a child, so … we can trust her."

"I am going out. I interact with people," Meredith grumbled childishly.

Derek chuckled and disagreed with a shake from his head. "Going out into the park and interacting with me and that old man, that's not called socialization."

"What are you animals?" Meredith frowned. "Socialization means… interacting with other human beings."

Derek laughed and kissed Morgan's cheek. "Meredith, are you coming with me or not?"

Meredith looked at him as she thought about it. She wanted to go out. She wanted to go and be with Derek. She could have spent each second of her life with him. "What if something happens to her?"

"I'll make you another one," Derek joked.

"That's not funny, Derek!" Meredith snapped at him, not tasting his sense of humor. She stood up and took Morgan from him.

"I am sorry," Derek apologized sincerely. "Just tell me if you are coming or not."

Meredith looked at him and answered with a nod. Derek smiled softly and stroking her cheek, he leaned in and kissed her lips. "I'll stay with Morgan while you get ready."

"Mrs. Andrea should be here soon," Meredith sighed, reluctantly giving Morgan to Derek.

"We'll be downstairs," he leaned in and kissed her once more before he walked out of the room.

Derek went into the living room and took a seat on the couch, cradling Morgan in his arms. "What do you think about your mommy? She's a little overprotective, isn't she?" he spoke softly to the baby. Baby Morgan smiled and held out her hand. Derek took it and kissed it. "Do you trust people, Baby Morgan? Sometimes you have to. A nice lady will come later and stay with you for a couple of hours, so don't worry when you won't see mommy or me around. We'll be back. We made sure that you would be safe. You trust Mommy and Derek, don't you?"

Morgan let out a yawn and smiled. Of course, she trusted her Mommy and Derek.

"Some changes are about to come. Mommy will have to go to work and you will be spending a lot of time with a lady you don't know," Derek continued softly talking to her. "We are in a hurry right now, because Mommy is looking for a nice lady to come and sit with you. You won't like her at first and you will cry for your Mommy, but I promise you'll get used to her. Mommy will make sure she spends all the free time she has with you. And Derek too."

The phone started ringing and Morgan started and whimpered at the sudden noise. Derek waited for Meredith to answer, but as the phone kept ringing, he thought she was taking a shower.

He leaned reached for the phone and picked up. "Hello."

"Good afternoon. My name is Lauren Bennet. May speak to Mrs. Meredith Grey?" the woman asked.

"She's busy at the moment. Could you call her back in a few minutes? Or I could ask you to call you back," Derek answered.

"I am afraid that's not possible. I have a flight to catch. Could you send her a message?"

"Sure," Derek tucked the phone between his shoulder and his ear and took a notepad and a pencil.

"Tell her to find me on Monday and let me know if she took any decision. I have to finalize the papers for the baby's custody and I need her final consent. Please tell her that we might need a new signature from Mr. Sloan, if I don't finalize the full custody procedure."

Derek listened shocked to what the lawyer was telling him. Meredith didn't finalize the procedure for Morgan's full custody and legally, Mark was still Morgan's father.

"Hello?" the woman asked as Derek was late to confirm her message.

"Sorry," Derek snapped back to reality. "I wrote everything down. I will give her your message," he answered, although he only had written the lawyer's name.

"All right then. Thank you,"

Derek just hung up without replying and let the phone drop beside him. What was he missing? He could swear he and Meredith were in a healthy, strong relationship; at least as healthy and strong as it was possible in those circumstances. Was Meredith still waiting for Mark? All kind of questions and thoughts collided inside his head in that moment.

He snapped out of them only when Baby Morgan poked him with her fist in his chest as if she was asking for his attention.

Derek took her hand and smiled down at her. "Do you know who Mark Sloan is?" Morgan prattled something in her own language. "I wonder if your Mommy talks to you about him," he said to himself. He lifted the baby up and kissed her forehead. "He's your Daddy," his voice sounded lifeless as he murmured those words.

Morgan's blue eyes watched him as if she was listening to him. Her face crumpled and she started whimpering. Maybe she didn't like what Derek was telling her?

Derek smiled, thinking about the same thing, and kissed her again. "I am so jealous he has such a wonderful baby," his lips murmured against her forehead. He kissed her once more and sighed.


	16. Chapter 16

Derek was so distracted by his thoughts that Meredith had to yell from upstairs to make him realize someone was ringing at the door. He first checked on Morgan, who was now sleeping soundly in his arms and then he stood up and answered the door. An elder woman was standing on the porch, smiling at him.

"Mrs. Andrea," Derek greeted her with a polite smile. He was still shaken by that phone call and now he could hardly think clear about what he was doing.

"Hello, Derek," she smiled. "Am I late?" she asked him, confused when Derek looked thoughtful and angry somehow.

"No, no. You're right on time. Come on in," he said and opened the door wider, inviting her inside the house. "Meredith is still getting ready."

"Aw she fell asleep," she noticed as she looked at Morgan.

"And probably she will be sleeping for the next 5 or 6 hours. I won't tell you what you have to do, because I am sure Meredith has a long list," Derek chuckled.

"I baby sat with her once or twice and her mother had a long list as well," Mrs. Andrea laughed. "So I wouldn't be surprised."

"They're both perfectionists," Derek agreed. "I am going to put her to bed. Has Meredith showed you the baby's room yet?"

"Yes, yesterday when I came to talk to her," she nodded.

"Ok then, make yourself comfortable. I will be right back," Derek smiled, pointing to the couch.

Derek took Morgan upstairs and put her down in her crib, covering her with her blanket. He quietly chuckled as he heard the baby sighing again. Derek stood there, leaning over the crib and watching Morgan's peaceful sleepy. How much he hated Mark in that moment!

"Is she sleeping?" Meredith asked in whisper.

Derek turned and his eyes locked on her beautiful face and then trailed down on her body. The gown she was wearing was black and simple; only a strap was covering her shoulders. She had gathered her honey hair to back, letting it cover her back only and clearing her face. Her eyes looked sparkler as the eyeliner emphasized the green inside her eyes. Derek breathed only when Meredith came beside him to look down at her baby.

"She's sleeping," she concluded with a sigh. She wanted to hold her baby for at least one more minute, but she knew she might wake her up if she did that. "Are you sure she's going to be fine?"

Derek put a hand on her back and kissed her temple. "I am sure. You don't have to stay long at the party."

Meredith leaned her body against his and wrapped an arm around him for more support. "I want to hold her."

Derek wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace. "You won't be gone forever."

Meredith sighed and flashed him a weak smile. "I am overreacting, aren't I?

Derek chuckled quietly and stroked her cheek. "I didn't want you to feel offended."

Meredith smiled and elbowed him between ribs. "Mrs. Andrea is here?"

Derek nodded and holding a hand on her back, he wanted to lead her to the door, but Meredith hesitated and turned back to the crib. She leaned down and brushed her hand against her baby's cheek, sighing loudly.

"I am coming home right away if something is wrong," she warned him sternly.

"I will be driving," Derek wanted to reassure her. "Let's go talk to Mrs. Andrea and leave then."

Meredith bit her lip as she worryingly looked at her baby again. She knew she would be fine; or at least Derek had reassured her of that. Despite that, her feet refused to move. Derek literally dragged Meredith out of the baby's room.

He had a lot of work to do when Meredith couldn't stop from giving advices to Mrs. Allen. She gave her a list of things she needed to know and a detailed inventory of the house.

Derek had just pulled the car on the ferryboat and he was walking Meredith on the deck when Meredith took out her phone.

"Mer," Derek held her hand. "We've been gone for only 15 minutes. I am sure nothing happened."

Meredith stared into his eyes, glaring. "You can't be sure of that. Admit it."

"I am sure of it," Derek replied.

Meredith gasped and gritting her teeth, she gave him a hard slap over his arm. "You don't care about her as much as you pretend."

Her words – though weren't true- hurt him and brought back the questions and thoughts. "Your lawyer called," he answered dryly. As they reached on the deck, Derek leaned against the railing, glaring out over the water.

"My lawyer?" Meredith asked, confused. Derek had no real reasons of worry about the delay in Morgan's custody. Her feelings for Derek were getting stronger each day and Mark was already part of a dark past, but she didn't know about his doubts.

"You need to tell her if you changed your mind regarding Morgan's custody. You might need a new signature from Mark if you wait longer," he answered, still glaring ahead.

"Oh," just then she understood. "I forgot about that."

"I know it's wrong and selfish," Derek said. "But I stopped thinking of Morgan as Mark's child. She looks like him, but I stopped seeing the resemblances between them. I know it's wrong and selfish, but I love Morgan as much as I would love my own baby," he tore his eyes to her and Meredith read the pain in his eyes.

"You're afraid of Mark?" she asked him.

"Yes," Derek answered frankly.

"I forgot," Meredith sighed and leaned over the railing, watching the water. "After you left," she quietly started talking. "You told me I was hurrying. You told me I should wait," she glanced at Derek and then her eyes fell over the water again. "I didn't want to be the mother who denies her baby to meet its father. I did what you told me; I waited. I waited and then you came back. I will call her right away," she said and flipped her phone open.

"She's probably in the airplane now," Derek said. "She said you could call her on Monday."

Derek gave up on his cold glare and softened his face. He put an arm around Meredith and kissed her temple. "I know it's too early for us. I am not asking for anything else but you sincerity."

"Mark is part of the past," she mumbled as she looked into his eyes.

"I know," he smiled softly. "Mark isn't the only man in this world."

She knew what he was saying. She stood on her tiptoes and reached for his lips, kissing him softly. "I will never lie to you."

Derek smiled and leaned down, kissing her in return. "I know."

"What will people say about me?" she asked, glaring over the water. "Sleeping with an attending."

"She should marry him," Derek answered with a chuckle and grinned when Meredith glared at him. "Cristina Yang, a 2nd year resident, is getting married to Preston Burke, head of cardiothoracic, today. They can say whatever they want as long as we know we are doing the right thing."

Meredith smiled and nodded slowly. So many things she had to deal with. It felt easier having Derek by her side.


	17. Chapter 17

Derek pulled the car in front of a nice, white church. The weather was sunny and warm therefore, many people were standing outside around the church, filling the street with laughs and chatter.

Meredith felt nausea in the pit of her stomach as she gazed out the window at all those people, fancily dressed. She didn't know why, but she never liked the weddings. She did dream herself as child, dressed into a beautiful white wedding gown, but nowadays, as grown-up, she felt disgusted each time she passed past a wedding. It wasn't actually nausea; it was rather jealousy, but she refused to admit it. Her mother had never encouraged her to get married and have children; she always told her how important her career was, needing to leave the family on the second plan if she wanted to be successful. She was also a mother now; a single mother. Her dream of fairytale would never because reality.

She hadn't noticed when Derek got out of the car and walked over to her side, opening her door. She looked up at him and smiled. Derek was her new fairytale now. Meredith put her hand on his and carefully stepped out of the car.

"You look beautiful," Derek whispered in her ear. He took the phone out of his tuxedo's pocket and showed it to her, smiling. "I think we should see what's going on with Baby Morgan."

Meredith quickly grabbed the phone from his hand and dialed the number. She breathed relieved when Mrs. Andrea told her that Morgan was still sleeping.

"I want to hear her," Meredith said and Derek stared at her, curios.

"You want to hear Morgan?" Mrs. Andrea asked, confused.

"Yes. Go upstairs and put the phone into her crib beside her. I want to hear her breathing," Meredith asked.

"Meredith," Derek scolded, grabbing the phone from her hand. "I am sorry," he told Mrs. Andrea. "Is the baby ok?"

"She's fine. She's still sleeping," Mrs. Andrea sounded amused.

"I am sorry for Mrs. Grey," Derek apologized. "Call us if anything happens."

"Don't worry. I have post-its all over the place with phone numbers I can reach you," Mrs. Andrea giggled.

"All right then," Derek laughed. "We'll call later."

"Have fun at the wedding,"

"Thank you, Mrs. Andrea," said Derek and flipped closed his phone, turning and shaking his head at Meredith. "You're lucky she's a nice lady, otherwise Baby Morgan would be left alone right now."

Meredith sniffed at him childishly and turned looking at the church.

Derek quietly chuckled and putting a hand on her lower back, he led their way to the church. "Let's meet people."

As they stepped inside the church – beautifully decorated with white flowers and ribbons- Preston Burke came greeting them.

"Shepherd," he smiled and sighed with relief when he saw them. "I thought I had to start looking for another best man.

Derek laughed and instinctively rubbed circles on Meredith's back as he spoke, "I didn't want to come alone."

Preston looked at Meredith then, smiling. "I am glad you came, Dr. Grey," he said, offering to shake hands with her.

"Congratulations, Dr. Burke," she smiled shyly.

"Let's wait for the 'I do's to be spoken first," he chuckled. Meredith and Derek shared a puzzled look. "Cristina is special," he explained. "Why don't you go meet her? Derek, can you introduce her to the bride and the bridesmaids?"

"Sure," Derek nodded. "I will be right back," he said and showed Meredith the way to the room where the bride and her bridesmaids were waiting for the start of the ceremony.

Derek knocked at door and wanted to open it, but as he did that, Derek found out that someone was fighting against it. "What's going on in there?" he asked.

"Dr. Shepherd, you have no business in here," he heard Izzie Stevens scolding.

"Stevens, let me in," Derek demanded, irritated. "I am not the one getting married."

"Some of us might still be naked," Izzie proved to be very powerful as she almost slammed the door in his face.

"What are you walking down the aisle wearing lingerie or pajamas?" he retorted sarcastically.

"That's not funny," Izzie snapped.

"I am trying to be funny, Stevens! I am trying to introduce you to someone."

Derek felt her resistance loosening and watched how the door opened a little and Izzie sneaked her head outside. She immediately noticed Meredith.

"You're Meredith Grey," she smiled and carefully walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

As Izzie did that, Meredith took a step back and whispered in Derek's ear. "Now this is scary."

Derek chuckled. "That's just Izzie," he reassured.

"Hi! I am Isobel Stevens but everyone calls me Izzie," she blonde held out her hand, smiling.

Meredith hesitated for a brief moment, but then she shook her hand. "Meredith Grey."

"Come on in," Izzie said, grabbing her by the wrist. "You go!" she glared at Derek.

Meredith looked panicked back at Derek as Izzie dragged her inside. In there, the bride – an Asian woman, which Meredith had seen once or twice at the hospital- and the other bridesmaid were sitting across from each other.

"Guys, this is Meredith Grey!" Izzie beamed.

Meredith started when Cristina Yang – the bride- jumped up from her chair and came to her. "Cristina," she said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Meredith," she smiled.

"Excuse her," the other bridesmaid came to them. "Usually she doesn't like people, but now she's very nervous. I am Callie Torres," she said, introducing herself.

"Meredith," she forced another smile as she shook Callie's hand.

"How's your baby girl doing?" asked Izzie.

Meredith was a little taken by surprise with that question, not expecting people would be so straight and interested in her personal life. "She's fine. Growing," Meredith answered.

"Have you found any Nanny for her or you're planning on bring her with you and drop her at the daycare?" Izzie asked.

Meredith frowned a little. "I am still looking for a Nanny," she answered. "Are you interested in the job?" she asked sarcastically and made Cristina chuckle.

Izzie glared at her friend and then smiled back at Meredith. "You two will get along very well."

"Are you all residents?" Meredith didn't want to seem rude, so she diverted their conversation from her personal life to the professional one.

"Yes," Izzie answered. "Cristina and I are second year residents and Callie is in her sixth year as resident. Dr. Bailey is our Chief resident."

"How good were you at literature?" Cristina asked Meredith.

"What?" Meredith chuckled.

"I wrote her vows today in her palms, but then she scrubbed in and now she doesn't know what to say at her own wedding to her soon-to-be husband," Callie answered.

"I am so tired of you, Cristina," Izzie groaned. "If I knew you were such a difficult bride, I wouldn't have asked to be one of your bridesmaids."

"Next time wait to be asked," Cristina retorted.

"Convince her of how easy to speak from her heart is," Izzie told Meredith. "If she has a heart, she can do it. Come on, Callie," she gestured for Callie to follow her outside and Callie gladly obeyed.

"The heart is a muscle!" Cristina grumbled. "I haven't heard a muscle talking yet," she said sarcastically while the two bridesmaids left the room.

Meredith watched, stunned, the whole scene and as the two left, she burst into laughter. "And Derek says I am weird and I have communication issues."

"They have the same problem," Cristina said matter-of-factly. "So…" she looked at Meredith, waiting.

"So…?" Meredith asked, confused.

"Literature," Cristina helped her remember. "My Mama and His Mama spent a lot of money on the menu. Make yourself useful."

"I don't eat," Meredith replied sarcastically.

"The chairs are fancy decorated,"

"I could sit in Derek's lap," Meredith answered amused, finding the interaction quite amusing.

Cristina rolled her eyes and went to sit back in her chair. This time she let her hands fell onto her lap and her forehead crumpled of worry. "I don't know how to do this."

Meredith stared at her, eyes wide opened. Was she supposed to know how she should do it? 'Too bad for you because I don't,' she thought to herself.

"You and Shepherd are not married, are you?" Cristina asked and Meredith was started by the look in her eyes, as if she was sure that asking Meredith she would find the answer to her problem.

"No," Meredith muttered.

"Are you going to get married?" she asked her.

Meredith couldn't answer right away. She didn't know Derek for so long; Derek had told her some things, but she never stayed and thought about their relationship. She did think a little, but she didn't dare to think about their future. "I don't know," she muttered. "I don't… think so."

Cristina sighed and continued staring at her. "You two have a kid together. Would you…"

"We don't have a kid together," Meredith interrupted her quickly. She didn't mind the gossips that much but this time, she didn't want people to believe that she was getting professional favors from Derek because they had a baby together as people thought.

"So you wouldn't," Cristina concluded quietly, without paying any attention to Meredith's outburst.

"Why are you getting married?" Meredith asked her straight, already obvious the fact that Cristina didn't have such strong feelings for Preston Burke.

That question caught her by surprise. "You wouldn't understand."

Meredith furrowed her brows, glaring at her, as she understood what Cristina was thinking. "Try me."

"You're Ellis' Grey daughter," she answered.

Meredith closed her eyes and tried to suppress the anger. "I am Ellis' Grey daughter, but I don't have anything to do with Dr. Grey," she retorted through gritted teeth. "Besides, my mother and I don't work together. What I've learned from her books is the same thing that any Med student does. Are you getting married to him only because he is the head of cardiothoracic department?"

It was Cristina the one glaring now. "He is also one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the country."

"Don't you have anything to prove? It's more exciting to succeed by using your skills only," Meredith said. "Besides, Seattle Grace has some of the best surgeons and therefore, the best teachers."

Cristina stared ahead blankly as she listened to Meredith's lecture. "Oh My God!" Meredith shrieked when Cristina suddenly jumped up, looking panicked. "You're right!" she said, looking at Meredith.

Meredith stared at her, completely shocked. She hadn't expected to such reaction as consequence of her lecture. She knew she was smart, but she didn't know she was this wise too.

"I don't want to get married. He once mentioned something about babies. I don't like babies and I don't like mommies," Cristina had started trailing off but stopped as she said the last words. "I might like you," she wanted to reassure her. "You seem smart. My point is that I am not ready to walk out through these doors and vow some fake words. What do I do?"

Meredith didn't feel so wise in that moment as she apparently was breaking the wedding. "I was speaking for myself," she said, hoping she would fix the things.

"It doesn't matter. Now I am speaking for myself. What do I do?" Cristina insisted and started pacing around the room, panicked. She suddenly stopped and turned to Meredith. "Do you have a car?"

Meredith stared at her, dumbfounded and slowly shook her head. "I came with Derek's car."

Cristina cursed something incomprehensible, restarting the pacing. "I need something," was all Meredith could understand from Cristina. She stopped and turned to Meredith again. "There's a backdoor somewhere around here."

"Do you want to run?" Meredith gasped, panicked.

"No, I want to go out for some fresh and talk to my fiancé about how I am not ready to get married," Cristina replied sarcastically. "And we won't be running. We will be walking out of this calmly. We don't want to draw attention over us."

"We?" Meredith asked in disbelief. That was bad; for her, at least.

"Hey, you came up with the suggestion,"

Meredith shook her head firmly, "I didn't suggest anything and I definitely have nothing to do with what's going on in your head. Plus, a bride walking out through the backdoor and jumping into a cab or a car is not something people get to see very often."

Cristina softened her features until pleading as she waited for Meredith to cave.

Meredith could not believe the situation she had put herself into. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, Burke is your teacher also, not just your fiancé or whatever."

"Meredith," Cristina pleaded as she took Meredith's hand. "He will have to leave aside our personal problems and teach me. That is his job. Please, I can't do this. I am not ready."

"How about Derek?"

"You two are sleeping together?" Cristina asked her.

"What's your point?" Meredith frowned.

"He loves you and your kid and I am sure he won't even dare to be mad of you," she stated.

"I don't know," Meredith took a step back.

Cristina didn't reply verbally to that. She just stayed there and stared into Meredith's eyes.

"Oh ok," Meredith grumbled. "Let's get over this."

They were lucky as they managed to sneak out of there in less than a minute and without being seen by anyone familiar. Meredith also hailed a cab for Cristina. "Come," Cristina said, grabbing Meredith's wrist and pulling her inside the car.

"Where? Are you insane?" Meredith wanted to pull her wrist from the grip, but Cristina was stronger.

"Please, I don't know where else to go," she said.

Meredith looked at her, stunned. "Are you serious? Do you want me to take you to my house?"

"He doesn't know where you live," Cristina pointed out, talking about Burke.

"But Derek knows," she said.

"Yeah, but I am sure he won't think you have anything to do with my disappearance. He will think you couldn't stay away from your kid and you ran back home."

"Stop calling my kid a kid. It's a she and her name is Morgan," Meredith frowned.

"Cute name," Cristina replied sarcastically and then turned to the driver. "Just go and we'll give you the directions as we know them."

The car drove away and Meredith didn't protest. That wasn't such a bad thing now that Cristina mentioned Morgan.


	18. Chapter 18

Meredith and Cristina stopped on the porch in front of Meredith's house, waiting for her to find her keys.

"Crap," Meredith muttered under her breath as she took out the keys.

"What?" Cristina asked.

"Derek has my phone. He will freak out when he'll see I am not there," Meredith said while she unlocked the door.

"I am sure he is already freaked out," Cristina pointed out as some minutes had passed since they left from the church. "You know what the awesome thing would be," she said with a smirk.

Meredith looked at her with a can-something-be-awesome-right-now look.

"If they think we might have been kidnapped," Cristina chuckled.

"Oh God," Meredith whimpered and opened the door.

They started as they walked inside and Mrs. Andrea let out a frightened scream. "Meredith," she sighed, holding on her chest. "You scared me. I heard voices and then the latch unlocking… what happened?" she asked, for the first time noticing Cristina and her wedding dress.

"Long story," Meredith answered simply and not really having an explanation for it either. Her first concern was to go see her baby. "How's Morgan?" she asked, already heading for the stairs.

"She's still sleeping," Mrs. Andrea answered. "Where is Dr. Shepherd?"

"Comforting the groom probably," Cristina answered wandering around the place as if she was looking for something. "Where are you keeping the booze?" she asked.

Meredith and Mrs. Andrea looked at each other, both worried. If Morgan was still sleeping, Meredith decided she could see her a little bit later and first take care of Cristina. "Uh…" she turned to Mrs. Andrea. "I am home now so you don't have to stay," she said and taking out her wallet, she pulled out a few bills to pay her.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Andrea asked, glancing at Cristina and obviously not liking her. "I could stay a little bit longer. Maybe until Dr. Shepherd comes back."

Meredith was tempted to accept at first, but then she decided to give Cristina some credit. She was a surgeon after all, so she had passed some psychological exams. "That's ok," Meredith shook her head. "Thank you so much for coming and … I am sorry for earlier."

Mrs. Andrea smiled reassuringly and nodded. She went and took her knitting bag and jacket and Meredith walked her outside then.

Left alone with Cristina, Meredith felt stunned by the whole situation and suddenly burst into a hysterical laughter.

"Have you gone mental?" Cristina frowned.

"I think so," Meredith kept laughing. "I mean… what normal person keeps a pregnancy just to piss someone off? And, what normal person helps a bride to run away from her wedding? Seriously."

Cristina shrugged and turned her back on Meredith as she looked around Meredith's living room and stated, "You're not normal."

That made Meredith's laughter even more hysterical. "I know."

"And they allowed you to keep the baby?" Cristina asked.

Slowly her laughter stopped and Meredith frowned. "I am a good mother," she grumbled, glaring at Cristina. "I am going to see my baby," she turned and stomped out of the room, running up the stairs.

As she got in front of Morgan's bedroom, Meredith slowed down and carefully opened the door, stepping inside. The light was fading outside and coming in through the curtains, it painted the whole room in a fade shade of pink. It was a peaceful silence in her room, that kind of silence that always allowed Meredith to hear her daughter's sleeping. She walked over to her crib and leaned over, watching her sleeping, with her fist rolled under her chin. Meredith drew the blanket upper and gently ran her finger over her tiny forehead. Baby Morgan sighed soundly and wiggled her nose once.

"What do I do now?" the whispered words started Meredith.

She turned and saw Cristina walking inside. She came by her side and looked down into the crib. "Morgan, huh?"

"Morgan Ellis Grey," Meredith replied.

"How cool is that," Cristina muttered under her breath. She looked at Meredith, waiting. "What do I do now?"

Meredith sighed and shrugged. "Change clothes?" she said, glancing down at her wedding gown.

"Change clothes," Cristina repeated quietly, nodding.

"I will give you some," Meredith said and walked her out of the room.

They were in Meredith's room and Meredith had just found some clothes for Cristina when the doorbell rang. Both of them froze, staring at each other.

"It's Derek," Meredith whispered as if Derek could hear her from the porch.

"Do you think he came with Burke?" Cristina asked, panicked.

Meredith shrugged and, dropping the clothes on the bed, she went to the window and opened it. She leaned outside to see Derek standing alone on the porch and fumbling through his pockets for the keys. She quickly looked at his car, but from the height she was, she couldn't see anyone else in it.

Meredith drew herself inside quickly and shut the window. "Stay here," she told Cristina and hurried to greet Derek downstairs. She still had no explanation for Cristina's presence in her house and she was now praying for something good to come in her mind.

Derek was coming out of the living room when Meredith got downstairs.

"Meredith!" he exclaimed with relief and, before she knew, he pulled her into his arms, hugging her breathlessly. "Thank God you're ok," he held her face in his hands, worryingly looking at her.

Meredith managed just a weak smile.

"I can't believe you left without telling me," Derek chuckled. He had been too worried about her, so he couldn't be mad right now that he found her. "You're unbelievable," he shook his head, smiling.

Guilt washed over as she saw Derek's compassion. "Sorry," she whispered.

Derek smiled and leaned in, kissing her softly. "Now tell me what happened?" he became serious. "Cristina is missing as well. When we saw that both of you were missing, we thought someone might have kidnapped you or something."

"Really?" Meredith giggled, remembering what Cristina had said when they arrived home.

"That's not funny, Meredith," Derek scolded. "We still don't know where Cristina is and what happened to her. What did you talk about? Did she tell you anything?" he demanded.

Meredith swallowed the lump she felt in her throat and her cheeks started burning. "I uh… we… we talked, but then… uh… we… I uh don't think… I can I … say or I…," Meredith couldn't even stammer.  
Derek curiously stared at her as she was making those sounds. "Meredith," he said simply, now waiting for the explanation she seemed to have about Cristina's disappearance.

"I don't know what to say, Derek," Meredith whimpered.

"You don't know what to say or you don't know how to say it?" he asked her, lifting a brow.

"Both," Meredith answered and bit her lip as she waited for his reaction.

Derek sighed loudly and groaned as he ran his hand over his face. He smiled at her ironically. "I love you so much sometimes."

Meredith smiled ironically as well and wrapped her arms around his neck, reaching up for his lips.

They heard Morgan crying and Meredith quickly pulled away, jumping back. "Morgan's crying so I should go up and check on her."

"Meredith," Derek grabbed her by her wrist and stopped her. "Do you know where Cristina is?"

"Derek," Meredith groaned pleadingly. "I need to go see my baby."

"You need to tell me if you know anything. Preston is desperate because his bride disappeared."

"She…" Meredith wanted to say, but Morgan stopped from crying and Derek noticed that as well.

He stared at Meredith questioningly. Morgan never stopped from crying until someone went and gave her what she wanted. Slowly his eyes narrowed as he started to understand what was going on there.

"What have you done?" he asked her calmly, though the glare was piercing his eyes.

"Nothing," Meredith answered defensively.

"Who is upstairs with Morgan?" he asked.

Meredith bit her lip and said nothing. Derek had his answer.

"I can't believe this," he groaned and ran upstairs.

"Crap," Meredith whimpered and hurried after him.

Derek suddenly stopped in the doorway and Meredith almost bumped against him. Cristina was leaning over the crib, carefully holding Morgan into her arms.

"She's so deafening," Cristina let out a quiet groan and shook her head, slowly rocking the baby back and forth.

"Meredith," Derek said through gritted teeth but glaring at Cristina.

Meredith bit her lip and frowned. "Yes, Derek," she replied sarcastically.

Derek turned his glare to Meredith and smiled nervously. "Why is the former bride in your baby's bedroom and why isn't she wearing her wedding gown anymore?"

Meredith weakly smiled at him. "Because she's a former bride?" she answered quietly.

"Meredith, I am not in the mood for jokes," Derek spat.

Baby Morgan didn't like Derek's tone and her tiny face crumpled as she whined nervously.

"Are you crazy?" Cristina hissed, glaring reproachfully at him.

"You can't yell in front of my daughter," Meredith glared at him too. "Let's go outside and talk."

She grabbed him by the arm and pushed him out of the room, taking him into hers. Derek walked inside and stopped in the middle, turning to her, arms folding across the chest and waiting.

"What happened?" he asked her, calmer comparing to the glare from his eyes. "What is she doing here?"

Meredith drew in some air and exhaled slowly as she prepared herself to tell him the truth. "She hadn't written the vows for her wedding and she asked me for help."

Derek put his hands on his hips and started looking suspiciously at her, "And how exactly have you helped her?"

Meredith laughed nervously and rolled her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Do you want me to look away while I talk to you?" he asked.

Meredith sighed and looked away, standing quiet.

"So?" Derek was still waiting.

Meredith glanced at him, biting her lip, "What?" she asked, clueless.

"What is going on here?" Derek asked, now sure that Meredith was hiding something.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she shrugged, still acting clueless.

Derek chuckled and shook his head once. "You're such a bad liar. Come," he said and wrapped his arm around hers, pulling her to the bed. "What happened? Why didn't Cristina run away from her wedding?" he asked in a calm voice.

Meredith let out a sigh and looked down at her hands as she spoke, "She understood she didn't have to get married to Burke to become a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon. Apparently, she wasn't ready to get married."

Derek didn't deny that; he had gotten to know Cristina pretty well and he knew what big professional aspirations she had.

"How did you get here? Why did you bring her here?" Derek asked her.

"We took a cab and… I didn't know where else to take her," Meredith explained.

"Why did you help her anyway?" Derek frowned.

Meredith gasped at his reproach and glared at him. "You dragged me to this stupid wedding in the first place. I didn't want to go but you said I was socially retarded and that I had to interact with people."

"First of all, I did not call you retarded and secondly, look how well you interact with people. You stole the bride from her wedding!" he retorted.

Meredith tightened her jaw, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "I did not steal the bride. She ran."

"You helped her!" he pointed out.

"But I didn't steal her! I brought her here because she asked me to help her and… I … I still need to wrap my mind around what just happened," she trailed off. "She asked me about you and Morgan and then she thought we were married; then I said some things and she had a revelation."

Derek held out his hand and stopped her, "You said some things and she had a revelation?" he purposely asked her.

Meredith froze for a moment. "It wasn't my fault," she murmured.

Derek briefly closed his eyes and moaned in annoyance. "What exactly did you tell her?" he asked, calm.

Meredith looked away and scratched her nape.

"Meredith, this is childish," he said.

Meredith cleared her throat and kept her sight away from him as she spoke, "She asked me what I thought about her doubts and I told her what I would do," she turned and looked straight into his eyes. "I am not responsible for anything. She is a grown-up and I didn't hold a gun to her temple. She is the one who stole me from the wedding."

Derek sighed and shook his head, disapproving. "So you just ruined Preston's Burke wedding. His best man's girlfriend made his fiancé change her mind in the last minute."

Meredith looked at him with glare in her eyes. "I can't believe you're blaming me for this. Once more, I didn't make her change her mind. She changed her mind by herself."

"You said something and that changed her mind," he smiled sarcastically. "Seriously, couldn't you have kept your mouth shut?"

"No," she snapped angrily. "Because you wanted me to interact with human beings. My daughter and the really old guy aren't human beings enough to you. Interacting with other human beings requires the use of your tongue and lips. Therefore, I couldn't keep my mouth shut."

"Do you realize what you've put yourself into? Preston Burke is also your boss. Ok, I forgive you, but will he forgive you? It might not be entirely your fault, but he will still see you as responsible for this mess."

"You don't have to forgive me of anything," she replied sharply and stood up. She turned and looked at him. "Would have been better to tell her, 'Cristina, it's ok to get married to Burke just because he's your boss and a brilliant teacher who will help you in your career. It doesn't matter that you don't love him and you're not ready for this step. Your career comes first'?" she stopped and drew in more air. "Is it ok if I tell you 'Yes, Derek. I want to marry you because I want my daughter to have a father and because you're also my boss and this could help me a lot'?" Meredith looked away as she waited for his reply.

Derek sighed and ran his hands through his hair. She was right. He stood up and took her hand. "I overreacted. I am sorry."

Meredith didn't let herself go so easily when he wanted to pull her into his arms. She looked at him and he was smiling infectiously at her. She gave in and half smiled. "It's not my fault," she muttered and wrapped her arms around him.

Derek smiled and hugged her. "It's not."

"Say it," she said, knowing he wanted to say more.

"Entirely," he added with a chuckle.

Meredith lightly punched him between ribs and giggled. "I am innocent and I rest my case."

"Ok," Derek laughed.

Meredith suddenly froze. "Do you hear that?"

Derek stood quiet and listened. "No," he whispered.

"Exactly," Meredith muttered, thoughtful. "There's nothing to hear, but Morgan was awake when we got in her room," she said, talking to herself mostly. "And she doesn't like strange people to hold her."

Meredith looked at Derek and in the next second, both stormed out of the room.

While Meredith and Derek were arguing in the next room, Cristina stayed with Morgan. Carrying the baby in her arms, Cristina walked over to the window and sat down in the rocking chair. She rocked slowly, absent-minded, until Morgan's intense gaze had her attention.

She looked down at the baby in her arms and looked in her blue bright eyes. "You're a good starer." Having her attention, Morgan smiled and started wriggling her arms in the air. Cristina took her hands in one of hers and held them steady. "Do you have any idea what's happening outside this pink room?" she asked her, playing her hands. Morgan freed one of her hands and slapped hers. "You'll figure out one day," Cristina answered herself. "You have a boring life right now," she spoke to the baby. "You have to suck breasts, you need to bear your stinky diaper when you poop and your mother is too lazy to change it. You just sleep and stare at the ceiling. That's boring, but it will get better. You'll go to college and get rid off your mother. You'll meet boys and you will be allowed to drink until you pass out. The sex will be awesome too once you are out of your mom's house." Cristina stopped and narrowed her eyes as she looked at Morgan. "Maybe I shouldn't talk to you about sex and alcohol," Morgan laughed and reached out for her hand. "Nah. Your brain is still empty. You don't understand a word from what I say. Let's keep that topic off anyway. Being a grown-up can suck too. You're Mommy seems smart. She's not as smart as me, but still… you could learn some things from her. If she won't teach you, then I will. When you'll grow up, don't let any man rule your life. Women have always been and always will be superior to the men. We're smarter… and braver… and prettier. They can't brag with much besides their stupid penis," she stopped again and thought. "Penis is not a bad word. It's a medical term used to describe the difference between girls and boys. Your mom probably will find a stupid explanation when your time will come, you'll ask her why boys have a little finger hanging between their thighs and you don't. Well, that's the difference. Boys have that little finger hanging there and girls don't. Don't worry, that little finger doesn't stay little for all the boys." Morgan smiled and ran her hand over her face as if she understood what Cristina was saying and as if she was having fun. "Boys are stupid and they're not worth to talk about." Cristina started again. "You have to go to school, be the best and know what you want from life. Probably you know already considering that your mother and your grandmother are doctors. You won't need to sleep with a cardiothoracic surgeon to scrub in to the best surgeries. You are Ellis' Grey granddaughter. Do you have any idea how big that is? She is a royalty. If you have inherited your grandma's gift and you'll use you last name as Grey, you won't need to sleep with your attending for good surgeries." This time, Baby Morgan didn't express anything on her tiny face; she just stared at Cristina. "Stop staring," Cristina frowned at her. "You look creepy." Baby Morgan giggled and grabbed Cristina's finger, taking it into her mouth. "No," Cristina pulled her finger away. "That's disgusting and unhealthy for you. Before becoming a great surgeon, you need to learn the elementary about hygiene." Morgan definitely didn't understand a word from what Cristina was saying, but the sound of them was funny. She giggled and reached out for Cristina's hair. Her tiny fist grabbed a stray and started pulling it down to her with great strength. "Oww," Cristina whined and tried to release herself from Morgan's grip. "You little animal," she gritted her teeth. As Cristina said that, Morgan suddenly released her and started screaming.

Cristina jumped on her feet and started rocking her back and forth, "Now there, there,"

In the same time, Meredith and Derek barged in.

"I didn't do anything," Cristina said defensively and looking down at the baby, she saw her looking at her with a frown, but she was no longer crying. "She's a strange kid," she stated and Morgan started giggling and wriggling her arms in the air again.

Meredith and Derek looked at each other. Derek burst into laughter.

"In case you lose your job," he told Cristina, mocking her.

"No, thanks," Cristina glared.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Derek chuckled knowingly.

In the meantime, Meredith went and took Morgan from Cristina. "This is odd," she muttered. "She actually likes you," she said, looking at Cristina. "She didn't like all those nice women who came for the interview, but she liked you."

Cristina smirked smugly. "She likes sincere people, with healthy mentality, not those old back bitter women."

"Healthy mentality, huh?" Derek chuckled. "Like dumping your fiancé few minutes before the wedding and not just dumping him, but also disappearing?"

"Mind your own business," Cristina hissed.

"This is my business," Derek pointed out, glaring at her. "I am his best man."

It had been a while since Baby Morgan woke up from her long nap and she had postponed her meal for too long. Besides, she didn't like all their hisses.

Meredith put Morgan on her chest and gently patted her back, pacing around the room. "I have to feed her."

"No, I will do it," Derek stopped her and took Morgan from Meredith. "You have to talk to your new friend and convince her to go and face his fiancé or whatever he is now. I don't want to be part of this charade," he said and then he turned and walked out of the room.

"I don't like him," Cristina said glaring at the door.

"He doesn't like you either and honestly I don't think I like you either," Meredith stated and let out a sigh.

"Your daughter likes me," she replied with a smirk. "She is a smart kid with great potential."

"Cristina," Meredith groaned. "What am I going to do with you now? You need to go and talk to Burke."

"Right now? I don't think so. Look, you got me into this mess so you take me out,"

Meredith gasped and could not believe her ears. "Stop blaming me! You need to stop. You're a grown-up. What are you retarded? Have you gone mental in the moment you decided you wanted to run away?"

"You'd better go see what he feeds your daughter with," Cristina grumbled and walked past her, out of the room.

Meredith stared, dumbfounded. "Exhausting people," she muttered under breath and walked out after Cristina.


	19. Chapter 19

When she got at the bottom of the stairs, Meredith saw Cristina standing beside the kitchen wall, looking as if she was listening to something. Seeing her coming, Cristina put the finger to her mouth, making her a sign to stay quiet. Meredith came by her side and listened.

Derek strapped Baby Morgan in her carrycot and left her crying, while he prepared her bottle.

"Oh come on," he said softly, taking her back into his arms. "You can handle the hunger a little bit, don't you?" Morgan had her answer as she threw her tiny fists in the air. "What has Cristina talked to you about? Food?" Derek muttered with a sigh and took the bottle out of the microwave. Baby Morgan had many bottles for milk and therefore, many colors to her bottles. This time, he hadn't prepared more milk formulas for her. He had prepared just one and purposely made it in a pink bottle. "Look," he said, showing her the bottle. "I know you can't distinguish colors, but this bottle is color pink. Pink is a color for girls. Every girl loves pink. Your room is pink and you have many pink toys. You like pink because you're a girl, so you like this bottle and you are going to eat all the milk from it because it's pink."

Baby Morgan screamed and her tiny fist hit Derek's hand. She opened her fist and stretched for the bottle.

"Are you going to eat it, right?" Derek asked her, still showing her the bottle.

Morgan screamed and asked for her meal.

Derek smiled smugly down at her when she gone quiet and started sucking. She still held a frown on her tiny forehead as she looked at Derek and ate from her milk. Derek chuckled quietly and leaned down, kissing her. As he looked up, he saw the two women staring at him.

"I made her eat," he smirked at Meredith.

"You starved her," Meredith giggled and walked over to them. "Waving the bottle in front of her eyes is something we always do; just that we usually do it with more bottles."

"That's not true," Derek frowned. "She likes the pink bottle. This is the secret."

"Because she's a girl," Meredith rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Derek laughed and shook his head as he looked down at Morgan, "You get no privacy in here."

Morgan let out a weep and threw her hand in the air, not letting him disturb her meal. Derek laughed and held her hand gently in his. "Why are you still hovering around here?" he asked, glaring at Cristina.

Cristina shrugged her shoulders, "This looks like a good place to hover."

Meredith pulled a chair next to Derek's and looked up at Cristina, "Aren't you going to call Burke?" she asked her.

All three of them started as a phone rang right in that moment. Everyone looked panicked at each other as if each of them were guilt of the broken wedding. The phone kept ringing and they kept staring. Derek and Cristina looked at Meredith.

"I am not answering," she said.

"It's your house," Cristina pointed out.

Meredith gasped and quickly looked at Derek, "But that's your phone. You answer."

"I am feeding the baby," Derek retorted, unwilling of answering the phone as he was almost sure that it was Burke who was calling.

Meredith outstretched her arms towards the baby, but Derek pulled away. "Derek," Meredith scolded.

"You said this was your business," Cristina remembered. "You're his best man."

"So? You are his fiancé, the woman who supposedly communicates with him," Derek glared at the two women, both of them responsible of the present situation but neither of them having the courage to face it.

"Men are cowards," Cristina grumbled.

Derek opened his mouth, gasping, and laughed bitterly. "I am a coward? Then what are you?"

Cristina stayed quiet for a moment and then she shrugged her shoulders, "I am a sincere person."

"Then go be sincere to Burke too," Meredith urged her, already tired of this.

"Whose side are you on?" Cristina frowned at her new best friend.

"I am on the side of my baby daughter, who at the moment is eating and later she would like a nice and quiet nap," she retorted, glaring.

"I was sincere to Burke," Cristina stated. "I would have walked down to the aisle if I wasn't."

"You will have to face him at some point," Derek said.

"Not today," Cristina replied.

"You're scared," wasn't a question; was a conclusion coming from Meredith.

"Me?" Cristina raised her brows, offended. "Why would I be scared?" Meredith and Derek looked at each other and smiled. "I am not scared," Cristina said with a hiss.

The phone had stopped, but started ringing again. This time, Derek held out his hand, "Give me the phone."

Meredith quickly stood up and ran out of the kitchen to go bring him the phone. She put it in his hand and went to stay next to Cristina. Cristina took her by her arm and half hid behind her, while Meredith was nervously biting her lip.

Derek looked at them and smiled, shaking his head; they were looking like two little girls waiting for the harsh punishment of their father. He flipped open the phone and answered, "Derek Shepherd."

"Shepherd," Burke's panicked voice sounded through the phone loud and clear enough for Cristina and Meredith to hear it from the place they were. "Did you find anything about Meredith?" he asked him. "I still couldn't reach Cristina. I am going to call to the police."

Derek hardly swallowed the lump in his throat, "She's here," he answered quietly.

"Who?"

"Meredith and Cristina; they're both here… at Meredith's house," Derek mumbled.

There was a brief silence coming from Burke, probably processing. "Cristina is there? What is she doing there? Why is she over your girlfriend's house?"

Derek opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out as he had no explanation. He stared at the two women and managed to speak, "She got cold feet."

Cristina quietly gasped and whispered, "I have warm feet!"

Derek rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I have no explanation to give you. She's the one who should explain you the whole situation."

"Put her on the phone," Burke asked calmly.

Cristina heard that and desperately shook her head.

"She's…. feeding the baby," Derek lied and sighed quietly so that Burke wouldn't hear him.

Burke let out a loud sigh. "I guess I won't be seeing her today."

"I don't know," Derek sighed too and shook his head, glaring at Cristina in the same time.

Another silence followed, this time more awkward, "How is the baby?" he asked him.

"She's fine," Derek answered. "She didn't notice our absence."

"She didn't have time to," Burke added sarcastically and sighed again. "I will talk to you later, I guess."

"I am sorry," Derek apologized sincerely.

"Me too," Burke answered and shortly the line went dead. Derek put the phone on the table and took the bottle as Morgan spitted it out. "When are you going to talk to him?" he asked Cristina while he helped Morgan burp.

Cristina looked away and then at Meredith, "Can I sleep over tonight?"

Meredith didn't know what answer to give her; she looked at Derek and Derek just shrugged. He seemed to be getting used to the situation. "I have a guest room," Meredith muttered. "It's not neat but it is clean."

"That will do," Cristina agreed. "Any alcohol?" she asked in whisper. Meredith glared at her and glanced towards Morgan. "Milk is good too."

"Let me show you the room," Meredith groaned and grabbed her by the elbow as she pulled her out of the kitchen.

Derek cradled Morgan into his arms, slowly rocking her, and smiled down at her. "Women are complicated. They never know what they really want," he said, starting talking to her. Morgan had her blue eyes wide open as she stared at him. "You are going to become a woman too, but please try to be wiser and less complicated. Never do what this lunatic has just done; don't cancel your wedding a few minutes before its start," he smiled down at her and kissed her on the forehead. "I wonder what kind of woman you will be."

Morgan frowned and wept once.

Derek chuckled and kissed her again. "A great woman, I am sure."

Morgan giggled and stuffed her fingers into her mouth, happily playing with her other hand in the air. Derek held her hand and Baby Morgan took a strong grip on his finger.

For the rest of the day, Cristina stayed in her room and read from one of Ellis' books, while Meredith and Derek stayed busy with the baby, giving her a bath and playing with her.

Morgan giggled as she sucked from her pink bottle and started chocking.

"Derek," Meredith snapped at him while she lifted Morgan and put her on her shoulder to pat her on the back. "Stop making faces at her while she eats!"

Derek looked worried at Morgan's coughs and gently caressed her back. "Sorry, Baby Morgan."

Baby Morgan quickly calmed down, so Meredith gave her the bottle again.

"Maybe we'll play more later if you are not asleep," Derek told Morgan as he stood up. "I am going to take a bath," he kissed the top of Meredith's head and turned to walk out of the room.

Holding Morgan into her arms and feeding her, Meredith watched Derek leaving and kept watching the door moments longer after he left. She sighed and looked down at Morgan. "I wish he was your real Daddy."

Morgan spit out the bottle as she ate enough, so Meredith put the bottle aside and helped her burp. She held her to her chest, gently caressing her back and breathing in her scent. "You'll meet your Daddy one day and he will see you for the first time," she muttered.

Meredith lay on her back and put Morgan on her stomach, holding her upright, "Mommy has done some stupid things. You haven't even heard this word until now, have you?" Morgan smiled and stuffed her fingers into her mouth. Meredith sighed and smiled at her baby. "You don't know what a Daddy is. A Daddy is…." She wanted to explain, but she didn't know which word to use. "Like Derek," she added quietly. Meredith sighed again and laid the baby on her chest. "Derek is like a Daddy," she muttered, while Morgan started sucking her thumb, watching her Mommy with curious blue eyes. Meredith looked at her and smiled, "We like Derek, don't we?" As she asked that, Morgan's eyes looked at the door, the place where she had last seen Derek. Meredith giggled and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Yes, that Derek. We like him more than a lot, but… he's His best friend… or former best friend and he's… honorable. What if he wants to do the right thing because of his friend?" Meredith wrapped her arms around her daughter's tiny body as she tried not to believe that thought. She closed her eyes and held back the tears that threatened to well up her eyes. "When you will grow up, make sure that you find a man like Derek and marry him first before you have a baby," she told her. "We'll see," she sighed then. "No matter what will happen, we'll always have each other," she smiled at her baby and a tear escaped from her eyes. She wiped it quickly and kissed her daughter. Morgan let out a yawn and ran her fist over her Mommy's stained cheek. Meredith kissed her again and hugged her a little tighter.

When Derek returned in the bedroom, Meredith was already in bed, reading a book. She smiled at him as she saw him walking in and put the book aside on the nightstand.

"She went to bed already?" Derek asked, joining Meredith in bed.

Meredith lay down and waited for him to lay with her so that she would nestle beside him. "She stayed awake almost the whole afternoon."

Derek took Meredith into his arms and stroked her cheek as he softly kissed her lips. Meredith didn't want to share her thoughts with Derek but a sigh betrayed her and Derek knew something was going on with her.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Meredith smiled and stayed quiet for a moment. She shrugged then. "Everything is ok."

"Meredith," Derek looked at her and smiled knowingly.

"It's silly and… we'll see," she smiled again and this time, she rolled over and let Derek spoon her.

"We'll see what?" Derek asked.

Meredith took his hand, their fingers intertwined, and she hid hand under her stomach. "I caught the bouquet today," she giggled.

"What?" Derek chuckled, confused.

"Cristina brought her bouquet with her and she left it in the living room. My living room."

Derek laughed and stood up, leaning in and kissing her, "That's a good sign. I guess."

With his arms around her and his breath against her shoulder, Meredith drifted to sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

Meredith had a smile playing on her lips as she started waking up, though she couldn't remember what she had dreamed. It was the warm sensation of having Derek's body tightly pressed against hers and his strong arms covering her that made her smile all the time. She closed her eyes again and listened to his calm breathing. She had so many questions and doubts, but she was determined to push them in the back of her mind that morning.

Derek moaned as he started waking up as well. Her quiet breathing let him know she wasn't sleeping any longer. He stood up and leaned to her, kissing her on the cheek. "You could have made the coffee if you woke up first," he chuckled.

Meredith giggled and elbowed him. She rolled onto her back, still smiling.

"Hey," he smiled and dropped a kiss on her lips.

"Hey," she smiled.

Derek noticed the smile on her lips, "Nice dream?"

Meredith giggled and shrugged, "Probably."

"It's good to see you smiling. Usually you're cranky in the morning," Derek stated with a teasing chuckle. "Like mother, like daughter."

Meredith childishly sniffed and looked away.

Derek laughed at her. "I noticed a thing," he said and had Meredith's attention again. "You both sigh in your sleep. Sometimes you snore too, but I haven't heard Morgan snoring yet."

"I do not snore," Meredith frowned.

"Not always," Derek contradicted her.

"Ever," she retorted.

"Only sometimes," Derek chuckled and kissed her lips before she could retort.

"Shut up," Meredith elbowed him again, glaring. "I can see you're in a good mood. Does this mean you won't bug me anymore with Burke's broken wedding?"

Derek just smiled this time. "He won't say anything to you. I still think you should have talked to her and convince her to let Burke know before she left."

Meredith sighed. "I guess I could have tried that."

"But your mind was to your baby," Derek added knowingly.

Meredith let out another sigh and gave him a worried look. "What am I going to do next week? I start the work and I have no one to stay with her? Besides, how will she stay away from me for so long?"

"She or you?" Derek chuckled. "Maybe Mrs. Andrea will want to help you. Until you find a nanny."

Meredith was already shaking her head, "She said she couldn't stay every day with her."

"I hate to say this…"

"Then don't," Meredith frowned.

"You should have called Mrs. Allen," Derek continued.

"I should have done this, I should have done that, but I didn't do anything, so now I need a solution. Now I should do something," she spat.

Derek hated he had ruined Meredith's good mood. "Ok, I didn't mean to upset you," he said and let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through her hair. "We'll find a solution."

He always knew what to say to change her mood, either good or bad. In the same time, there it was, 'We will'. This much Derek was involved in her life and her daughter's that now, neither of them could imagine how it would be without each other.

Meredith sighed and let out all the worries and questions aside, again. Their time would come. She rolled into his arms and climbed on top of him, propping her chin on his chest and mumbling, "I am a lousy organizer and not just that, sometimes I do really stupid things."

Derek stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head, "Nobody's perfect," he muttered, mostly talking to himself. As he looked down, he met her stare. "What?"

"You're kind of perfect," she said.

Derek laughed and rolled over, flipping her onto her back. "Nobody's perfect."

"Why are you here with me and Morgan?" she finally asked.

Derek looked at her, a little confused, "Why am I here with you? As in this bed and this bedroom?"

"No," she shook her head, "As in, here in our life?"

Derek had a suspicion of why she was asking that, "I met you because of fate, I guess. I am here with you and Morgan because I didn't have any friend and back then, I considered why wouldn't I be friend with you since we had met in such odd circumstances."

"So you are here as a friend," she concluded quietly.

Derek chuckled and shook his head, disapproving her presumption, "I am here as more than just a friend and I already told you that. I am sure what your next question will be. I fell in love with you the night we brought you at the hospital," he paused for a moment and smiled. "Actually, I first fell in love with Morgan. I admit it. You can't blame me for it," Meredith giggled and blushed slightly at his words. "Then, slowly I walked into your life and everything changed. I didn't stop feeling this way, not even when you told me about Mark. I tried to, but I couldn't. It's because of the way you are. You are very clumsy when you are in kitchen, you are not a very neat person and very careful with the way you look, but despite all these, you are a strong, smart woman, who wants the best for her child." His words had flown out so smoothly and naturally that he hardly could breathe at the end. He chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair. "I am not here because of Mark," he said, in a more serious manner now. "I thought I had reassured you of this."

Meredith stayed quiet and just smiled, weakly. She rolled off and lay on her back, "It's just… I've never considered myself lucky. I never believed in luck, actually. I thought that if you wanted to succeed, you needed work, not luck."

"Most of the times, luck interferes too," he said. "You didn't work… actually you did, but… you didn't work purposely to have Morgan and now you have her and you consider yourself lucky because of this," Derek pointed out and looked at her, waiting for her to agree with him.

Meredith smiled and nodded, "I am."

"I just want you to know that I am here because I want to and because it makes me happy to be here," he said. "I am still not asking you to say anything back. Not yet."

Meredith just turned her head and looked at him, smiling. This is why she found it hard to believe it. How lucky was she? Were out there, women this lucky like her? She still found it hard to believe.

In that moment, Morgan started weeping, letting them know she was awake.

"I am going," Meredith said and threw the quilt off her.

Derek nodded, getting off the bed in the same time with her, "I will go take a shower then."

Meredith walked into her daughter's room and turned the lights on as the weather outside was very cloudy and rainy. It weren't often the mornings when Meredith went to Morgan's crib and found her smiling.

"We're having a good morning, aren't we?" Meredith giggled as she picked her up.

Baby Morgan sleepily put her head down on Meredith's shoulder and started sucking her thumb.

"Is your mood in contrast with the weather outside?" Meredith giggled as she walked over to the window and watched the rain.

Baby Morgan turned her head and looked out the window as well. There wasn't anything interesting for her to see, so she let out a weep and frowned at her mommy.

"You're cheerful, but not in the mood for daydreaming," Meredith sighed and carried her outside.

In kitchen, Cristina sat in front of the coffee machine, reading the newspaper while waiting for the coffee to be ready.

"I thought I could make myself useful," she said when she saw Meredith and Morgan.

Meredith sarcastically looked at the table, "I can't see the breakfast."

"I don't cook," Cristina replied sharply. "But I can hold the bug," she said, still reading from the newspaper.

"The bug?" Meredith asked, confused, and understood when Cristina looked at Morgan. "Oh," she giggled. "You two have become friends already?"

Cristina rolled her eyes, "That is part from me being useful as gratitude for the shelter you offered me over night."

"At least you're not accusing me of anything anymore," Meredith sighed.

Cristina just shrugged and stood up when the coffee pot filled with liquid. She took two mugs out of the cupboard and filled them.

"Derek might like some too," Meredith said and bit her lip, muffling the giggle.

"Sure," Cristina grumbled and took out another mug. She took a sip from hers and then came over to Meredith, taking Morgan from her.

Baby Morgan stared at her for a moment and then at Mommy. Besides her Mommy and Derek, nobody else held her in the morning. She looked back at Cristina and stared at her, looking as if she was thinking if she liked her or not. She let her carry her to the table and watched how Cristina spread the newspaper over the table.

"Over here," Cristina told Morgan, "Is the real world. People earn money, people lose money; other people get killed, others are born. They talk politics and they say what's best for us."

Meredith kept staring at them as Cristina talked to Morgan, surprised to see how calm she was sitting in her arms and how interested she looked in what Cristina was saying. Meredith shrugged and started preparing the milk for Morgan.

"You're kidding, right?" Cristina asked her, raising her brows, when she saw Meredith preparing the milk in the pink bottle that Derek had talked to Morgan about.

Meredith giggled and shrugged, "She's in a good mood and I am not willing to ruining it."

"But you don't believe she understood a word from what he had told her," Cristina checked suspiciously.

Meredith adopted an offended posture, "Of course I don't," she grumbled, but something from her embarrassment betrayed her.

Cristina shook her head as she looked at Morgan, "I feel for you."

"Shut up," Meredith hissed and came to take the baby from Cristina. "You are two are not allowed to be friends anymore."

"Now that's a very cruel thing to do to your child," Cristina said with a teasing chuckle.

"Sure," Meredith rolled her eyes and sat down at the table, giving the bottle to her daughter, while Cristina returned to the newspaper.

That's how Derek found them a few minutes later when he walked into the kitchen, "I smell coffee, but I can't smell the bacon and the eggs," he chuckled teasingly and walked over to Meredith. He crouched down beside her chair and kissed Morgan's head. "Let me feed her," he asked Meredith.

"Derek, you know she doesn't like to be bothered when she eats," Meredith smiled down at him. "Make some bacon and eggs and then you can feel their smell," she laughed.

Derek smiled at her and then at Morgan, "She can be very bossy sometimes," he chuckled.

"She has too," Cristina cut in. "When she sees you moping around her house."

Derek let out an annoyed groan, "And what are you still doing here?"

"Waiting for your famous bacon and eggs," Cristina answered with a smirk.

Derek didn't reply to that and he just stood up. He took out of the refrigerator everything he needed for the breakfast and brought them on the table. "Why don't you give a try and call Mrs. Allen?" he asked Meredith.

"After nearly two weeks? It's too embarrassing," Meredith sighed. "I should have called her days later, not weeks later."

"Who is this Allen?" Cristina asked. "I saw her phone number posted on your refrigerator."

"Already friend with her refrigerator?" Derek asked her sarcastically.

Cristina completely ignored his comment.

"She's one of the women who came for the Nanny job," Meredith answered. "She has a very good record. She worked as nurse at Mercy West."

"Then why isn't she hired yet?" Cristina asked.

Meredith bit her lip as she glanced at Derek. Derek chuckled and shook his head, "You don't want to know."

"That's her phone number, right?" Cristina pointed towards the post it from the refrigerator and Meredith nodded. "You should still call her. I am sure someone hired her already, but maybe she doesn't like the family and she will be more than happy that you called her."

"That sounds encouraging, but what if she is happy with the family that hired her?" Meredith asked, still skeptical.

"Meredith is right," Derek cut in.

Cristina rolled her eyes and propped her hands on the table as she stood up, "Some people are just not meant to be parents," she muttered under her breath as she walked to the refrigerator and ripped the post it off it. She took the phone and returned to the table.

"What are you doing?" Meredith asked in disbelief as she saw her dialing the phone number from the paper.

"Let her try," Derek muttered, staring at Cristina with the same disbelief as Meredith.

"Hello," a woman answered at the other end of the line.

"Hi. My name is Cristina Yang and I would like to talk to Mrs. Allen if that's possible," she spoke politely. "I know it's still very early and not a proper hour to call, but this a serious matter."

"I am Mrs. Allen," the woman answered, sounding a little concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I called you because I am uh… Meredith's Grey secretary and I just found out that you came a while ago for the Nanny job," Cristina explained.

"That's right," Mrs. Allen answered.

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Grey had a serious flu these days and she also confronted with laryngitis, so everyone's mind was off the Nanny for the little Grey," Cristina continued explaining, keeping her voice soft and also worried, even Derek and Meredith were about to believe what she was saying was true.

"I am so sorry to hear that. Is little Morgan alright?" Mrs. Allen asked.

That seemed to have caught Cristina off guard a little, "Do you still remember the baby's name?"

Mrs. Allen chuckled, "I am good at memorizing names. Besides, I didn't visit so many families."

"I see. She is ok. Her father took care of her. Anyway, Mrs. Grey regretted she didn't tell you that you had the job before you left that day and she truly hopes that you're still available," Cristina continued.

There was a brief pause coming from Mrs. Allen as if she was considering. "I am still available."

Cristina raised her brow suspiciously and then she looked at Meredith and mouthed, "Are you sure you still want this one?"

Stunned, Meredith nodded.

Cristina shrugged and spoke again to Mrs. Allen, "Then could you come over let's say… today?"

"Later today is fine," Mrs. Allen agreed.

"Alright then. Meredith will be home all day," Cristina said. "Goodbye and thank you so much."

"No reason to thank me," Mrs. Allen said kindly. "Tell Mrs. Grey I will see her later."

Cristina didn't reply to that; she just nodded and hung up.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "Why is she still available if she has such a good record?"

Derek and Meredith looked at each other questioningly.

"Maybe she doesn't really need the job. Maybe she wants it because she has too much time in her hands," Derek said.

Meredith nodded her head, agreeing with Derek, "I think she mentioned something about this."

"I can't believe you said all those lies," Derek chuckled.

"Hey, I found a Nanny for the kid!" Cristina retorted.

"Stop calling her a kid," Meredith frowned.

"Is she an animal?" Cristina chuckled sarcastically.

Meredith was about to reply but Derek sat a plate in front of her and shook his head, "Don't bother," he suggested.

"Ok," Cristina sighed and heavily got up, "I paid for your help so now I have an angry fiancé or boyfriend or whatever to deal with."

"Are you seriously going to talk to him?" Meredith asked.

"Yes," Cristina answered.

"What are you say to him?" she asked.

"Did you see how I solved your problem? I am good at words," Cristina smirked.

"You weren't that good yesterday," Derek replied sarcastically and smirked at her glare. "How about breakfast?"

Cristina turned before she walked out the kitchen, "I bet is bitter just like you."

"Ouch," Derek winced, laughing. "That hurt. I am sweeter than you."

Cristina ignored him and looked at Meredith, "You can keep the wedding dress. I will bring you the clothes some other time."

"I don't want your bad juju," Meredith frowned.

Cristina was about to leave, but Meredith stopped her. She looked at Meredith and then at Derek as she spoke, "Can he afford to buy you a wedding dress?"

"Yes, I can," Derek spat.

"Ok then. I will take the dress," Cristina said and disappeared.

"Tell me when you need a wedding dress," Derek laughed at Meredith and Meredith looked down at her baby, smiling embarrassed. "I can't believe she called the Nanny."

"I can't believe she was born," Derek muttered and turned to his breakfast.


	21. Chapter 21

Meredith couldn't stop from laughing as she held her baby on her knees, bouncing her, and Baby Morgan laughed with delight. She stopped from bouncing and brought Morgan to her chest, "You know, this is your first real laughter," she told her, feeling pain in her cheeks because of the smile.

Morgan looked at her Mommy and giggled. She threw her tiny arm hand as if she was caressing Mommy's chest.

"Sometimes I do have the feeling that you understand every word we say to you," Meredith said.

Morgan smiled at her and then she hid her face in her chest. Meredith laughed and wrapped her arms around her tiny body.

"What would I be without you?" Meredith sighed, a loving smile playing on her face and lightening up her eyes. She lay her down into her arms and slowly started rocking her back and forth. Morgan wasn't sleepy, but Meredith knew this was a different way of entertain her. Morgan giggled and stuck her thumb into her mouth, sucking it as if it was a candy. "A nice lady will come to see us," Meredith started talking to her. "You've met her before. She's Mrs. Allen. You cried when she held you, but I am sure you were just cranky that day; weren't you? She will be staying a lot of time with you from now on because I have to go back to work and I can't take you with me," Meredith stopped and sighed heavily. She refused to think about the day when she would go back to work and not see her baby for many hours. As she looked down, Meredith noticed she was no longer rocking her and Morgan was looking at her with a serious expression on her face.

Meeting her Mommy's smile, Morgan laughed and took the hand out of her mouth, throwing it in Meredith. Her Mommy laughed and held her hand, immediately feeling her strong grip.

"We won't spend so much time together, but I will still love you," Meredith wanted to reassure her.

The doorbell rang and both of them started.

"That's her. That's Mrs. Allen," Meredith said and, carrying Morgan into her arms, she went to answer the door.

The woman on her porch was shivering and hiding from the rain. She smiled kindly when Meredith opened the door, "Hi"

"Hi. Come on in!" Meredith opened the door wider, quickly so that Mrs. Allen could hide from the rain and cold. "It's been raining all day," she sighed.

Mrs. Allen chuckled, "If it weren't the ferryboats, I would have moved some place else."

Meredith laughed, surprised to hear some one else praising the ferryboats, "I thought I knew everything about Seattle. What's so special about the ferryboats?"

Mrs. Allen tucked herself in her jacket as she giggled like a teenager, "It holds many memories of me and my husband." She smiled when she saw Meredith's uncomfortable features, "I wasn't the only lucky woman," she said as encouragement.

Meredith nodded her head in agreement. She was somewhat lucky too. "Let's go in the living room," Meredith said, showing her the way.

All this time, Baby Morgan stayed quiet in her Mommy's arms and carefully watched the new face. Only when Mrs. Allen looked at her for the first time and smiled at her, Morgan turned her head and shyly hid her face in her Meredith's sweater.

"She still doesn't like me," Mrs. Allen noticed, smiling weakly.

"Oh that's just her. She always plays shy when she sees new people," Meredith wanted to reassure her. "Would you like something to drink? I have tea."

"I think I'd like some," Mrs. Allen smiled gratefully.

Meredith left, carrying Morgan into the kitchen. She took a cup out of the cupboard and filled it with warm tea. Before she picked up the cup, Meredith shifted Morgan in her arms so that she could look straight into her eyes.

"She's a nice lady, I promise," Morgan looked at her Mommy as she spoke, "Please, like her."

Morgan smiled and grabbed a lock of hair out of Meredith's hair, holding tightly on it as Meredith took the cup and returned in the living room. She offered the cup to Mrs. Allen and then she took a seat in a chair, across from her, with Morgan on her knees. Morgan was facing Mrs. Allen now and that allow her to stare better.

"So, Mrs. Allen," Meredith cleared her throat nervously. "I am sorry I didn't call earlier."

"Please," Mrs. Allen smiled reassuringly. "First of all, call me Claudia. Maybe it will be easier for the baby if we become more familiar with each other." Meredith nodded her head, agreeing with that. "Secondly, I think it's nice that you have friends willing to do … let's call it... dirty work, for you."

Meredith looked confused at Claudia, not really understanding the meaning of her words. Claudia chuckled.

"I used that criteria myself when my children were little and I had to find them a nanny," she said. "And after we met, I went to another interview and that Mommy had a little boy, a little older than Morgan, and she used the same method."

Meredith understood then what she was talking about. She smiled, embarrassed, and started playing with Morgan's dress. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Claudia laughed. "Don't worry. As I said, I used it myself. I know that finding a Nanny for your child is one of the hardest decisions. You don't trust anyone when it comes to your child."

Meredith listened to her and admitted she was right. "I assume this is one of the risks I have to take."

"It is," Claudia smiled kindly. "That's why, trust me, I take no offense if you install hidden video cameras in the house or whatever high technology they have nowadays."

Meredith stared at her for a brief moment. She hadn't thought about that. But then she shook the thought out of her head.

"I have one more week off," she said. "Maybe this will be enough for all of us to know each other enough and… get comfortable with each other."

"We can try," Claudia agreed.

Meredith smiled and then she let out a discreet as she looked down at Morgan, "Why don't you go meet Claudia," she softly spoke in her ear. Morgan looked up at her and then at Claudia. Meredith picked her up and took her to Claudia, putting her onto her lap.

Morgan wept once when she found herself in a stranger's arms, but then she saw her Mommy sitting beside them and she calmed down.

"I hope you will get to like me, Baby Morgan," Claudia smiled kindly at the infant.

Morgan stuffed her fingers into her mouth and carefully watched Claudia's features. She looked at Meredith and then back at Claudia until she finally let out a giggle and threw her hand in Claudia, like saying hi.

Meredith discreetly sighed with relief. Claudia seemed like a decent person and she did hope she would be the perfect person to take care of her baby when she couldn't.

Meredith told Claudia almost everything she needed to know about Morgan; things like her nutritional plan, her sleeping habits and other regular things that Morgan was used to. They also talked about Meredith's schedule and rules that Claudia needed to respect. Claudia complied with everything. Meredith gave her a tour of the house, in all this time Morgan sat in Claudia's arms and stared at her.

"Is it just me or she's staring at me?" Claudia asked, amused.

Meredith giggled and nodded. "She stares. That's her thing," she stated and held out her arms for her baby.

Morgan started fussing in that moment and calmed down only when her Mommy took her and sat down in their favorite rocking chair.

"This is a good method to calm her down when she wakes up in the middle of the night or when she's too cranky and doesn't want to go to sleep," Meredith said, cradling the baby into her arms and slowly rocking her. Morgan smiled delightfully at her mommy and looked at Claudia only when she heard her voice again.

"I don't want to seem nosy, but… are there other family members I need to get familiar with?" she asked Meredith.

"Uh… No," Meredith answered, looking a little uncomfortable with the new topic. "Morgan's father is… away," she stammered. "For good."

"Oh," Claudia frowned and the expression on her face made her look pitiful. "I am sorry."

"What for?" Meredith asked, confused.

Claudia was even more confused than her. "He's dead?" she asked quietly, sounding afraid of being ridiculous.

Meredith didn't answer right away. She looked away and considered the answer. "Yes," she answered as she looked back at Claudia. "Not the actual person… only her father," she explained.

"Oh," Claudia understood then. "Ok. I didn't … I hope I wasn't too indiscreet."

"No," Meredith shook her head reassuringly. "It's good that you asked. He won't even show up around here, so … you don't have to meet him, but my mother could show up. She usually shows up unannounced. This is actually her house, but she lives in Boston. She teaches there."

"I wanted to ask you," Claudia interrupted her. "Are you related to Ellis Grey?"

"I am her daughter," Meredith answered. "Have you met her before?"

"Once," she nodded. "I assisted her when she came for a surgery at Mercy West. I can't believe I am going to baby sit her granddaughter," she giggled.

Meredith just smiled. As usual, talking about her mother or hearing praises about her wasn't her favorite thing to do. "You have met Derek already," she said. "He's around here most of the time. When he has time. He's also our friend and… very helpful. Derek is also a doctor and works for Seattle Grace," Meredith didn't notice she had started rambling.

Claudia smiled suspiciously and from that moment, she was curious to know Derek better. Their friend. "Other relatives or friends?"

"No," Meredith shook her head. "So, unless it's my mom or Derek, nobody else is allowed inside while I am not home."

"Of course," Claudia nodded in agreement.

All three of them started when they heard a wheel screech in front of the house. Meredith jumped up and looked out the window. There was a gray, unfamiliar car parked in front of her house, but there was no one in it or beside it. Then they heard several knocks in the front door.

Meredith and Claudia looked at each other, panicked. "Hold her," Meredith handed Morgan to Claudia, so that she could open the window and lean outside. She recognized Cristina pacing on the porch nervously.

"Seriously," Meredith muttered under her breath.

"Is everything alright? Should we call 911?" Claudia asked, still alarmed.

"No," Meredith sighed. "That's my secretary," she grumbled and hurried out of the room, going to answer the door.

"He's gone!" Cristina blared out and walked inside as Meredith opened the door.

"Who?" Meredith asked, confused.

"Burke. He's nowhere to be found. He took some of his things from his apartment. Our apartment, which now it might be my apartment. He's not at the hospital either and there people are staring. I hate the staring."

Claudia had followed Meredith outside, but she didn't have the courage to take Morgan downstairs, so she stopped in the middle of the stairs.

"My secretary," Meredith rolled her eyes sarcastically, introducing her to Cristina.

Cristina nervously ran her hands through her hair before she drew in some air and looked at Claudia. "You're Allen?"

"Cristina," Meredith snapped at her inappropriate tone. "She's Mrs. Allen."

"I hired her," Cristina pointed out.

Meredith rolled her eyes and, grabbing her by the elbow, she smiled apologetically at Claudia, "Excuse us for a second," and dragged her into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

Cristina froze and stared at her as if she had just woken up from a sleep and she didn't know where she was or how she got there. She sighed and fell exhaustedly in a chair. "He's gone," she muttered, propping her forehead against the table.

"I am sorry," Meredith softened her voice.

"I didn't know where else to go," Cristina kept muttering and looked up at Meredith. "You need to teach your daughter not to stare at people. It's rude."

Meredith knew what she was talking about. People from hospital heard about Cristina ditching her fiancé and running away. A huge gossip like this couldn't be ignored; it would feed the appetite for gossips for a long time.

"Maybe… he decided to go in the honeymoon," Meredith said. "Alone," she added quickly.

Cristina shook her head, not agreeing. "The Chief has his resignation. He let him go."

Meredith took a seat at the table, across from Cristina, and looked down at her hands as she folded them. "He left because of the wedding?"

No answer came from Cristina, so Meredith looked up and met her stare, "because of the wedding," Meredith concluded quietly.

"Now I lost both, my teacher and my fiancé," Cristina grumbled.

"At least you had to balls to do what you felt right," Meredith wanted to encourage her. "Although, I think you could have talked to him instead of running away and hiding." Cristina looked at her with a glare. "I know. I should have knocked some sense into you and make you talk to him," Meredith said. "What do you want me to do now?"

"Do you have some coffee?" Cristina asked.

"No, but I have tea,"

"Tea is for Morgan, not for soothing my pain. Unless you put some scotch in it," Cristina answered. She looked up over Meredith's shoulder, where Claudia was standing.

Morgan started fussing when her Mommy looked at her, so Claudia brought her to her.

"Are you a wise woman?" Cristina asked Claudia.

"Cristina," Meredith hissed reproachfully.

Cristina ignored Meredith and continued, "You look like you are. Be honest! How well prepared you are to be this girl's Nanny?" she asked straight.

"Stop it now!" Meredith snapped at her.

"That's ok," Claudia smiled, visibly embarrassed. "You're probably one of the most direct and sincere person I've ever met. You're kind of rude though, but I am impressed," she stated. She came and sat down at the table, across from Cristina. "I raised my kids and they turned into honorable people. I am quite proud of what I did. As for wise… I like to believe that I am smart."

"You don't have a good impression about yourself and I don't think I like that, but whatever. She's not my baby. I have other problem," Cristina stated and out of nowhere she started talking about how she ran from her own wedding.

Claudia was taken off guard by Cristina's sudden confession. She looked questioningly at Meredith, but Meredith shrugged helplessly. Claudia stayed and listened to everything that Cristina was confessing and slowly started replying, giving her thoughts about her situation.

Meredith and Morgan stayed aside; Morgan pulling locks of hair from Meredith's head and Meredith staring at the two women. She started when she heard the door unlocking. She had even noticed that it was already dark outside and Derek was home.

"Hey," she greeted Derek in the hallway.

Derek smiled and leaned in, kissing her, "Hey," then he took Morgan from Meredith, "How's my baby girl doing?" he laughed as he tossed the baby in the air and Morgan laughed with delight.

Meredith smiled and a warm sensation filled her chest as she heard Derek talking to Morgan as if she was his daughter.

"She's tired," he noticed with regret when Morgan yawned sleepily.

"She didn't sleep much at noon and she stayed up the whole afternoon. Mrs. Allen is here," she said.

Just then, Derek heard voiced coming from kitchen. "Who else is here?" he asked, confused.

Meredith cleared her throat and smiled as she looked away, "Cristina," she muttered.

"Our friend Cristina," Derek beamed sarcastically, looking at Morgan. Morgan giggled and grabbed his nose in her tiny hand. Derek laughed and brought her back into his arms. "How is she?" he asked Meredith, referring to Mrs. Allen.

"She's nice and Morgan even agreed to stay in her arms for a few moments," Meredith stated.

"Let's go save her from Cristina's hands," Derek chuckled.

Meredith laughed and shook her head disagreeing, "They get along very well, actually."

Derek's features suddenly became uptight, "In this case, I don't think I like her. We still have some time to find a better Nanny."

Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling. "You're worse than me."

"You've prepared yourself for this path of your career, so who teaches you is less significant. Seattle Grace has the finest doctors in Washington, so he wasn't the only person prepared to teach you."

That was part of the lecture that Claudia was giving to Cristina when Derek and Meredith walked into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Allen," Derek smiled.

"Dr. Shepherd," Claudia stood up and came greeting him. "Please call me, Claudia."

Derek smiled, nodding, "Derek. Dr. Yang, I am glad to see you here… again," he smiled sarcastically at Cristina.

"Your disgust, my pleasure," Cristina retorted sharply.

"You two stop now," Meredith glared at them. "Cristina, you can sleep over if you want to."

"Seriously?" Derek frowned as he heard that.

"I could stay and help you put all of them to bed," Claudia joked.

Meredith laughed and nodded. "I don't want to scare you from the first day."

"Ok," she laughed. "I should leave then and I will be back tomorrow morning. Sleep well, Baby Morgan," she leaned down to Morgan, who was snoozing in Derek's arms.

"We'll walk you to the door," Meredith told her and led their way to the door.

"Derek?" she asked as they stayed in the doorway, watching Claudia's car driving away. "Whose car is that?" she asked, looking at a black car.

"Oh, that," Derek chuckled and smirked at Meredith. "Give me your jacket from the hook."

Meredith looked at him, confused. "Are we going somewhere?"

Derek just kept smiling, "Give me your jacket."

Meredith stared at him and refused to comply until he wouldn't explain what he had in plan.

Derek rolled his eyes and went back inside, taking Meredith's jacket himself. He carefully wrapped Morgan in it and then walked back outside. "Come with me."

"Derek, where are we going?" she demanded.

Derek just walked and stopped beside the black car, "Does this look at least familiar to you?"

"No. Should it?" she asked.

"Yes," Derek gave her an emphasized answer.

"Why?" she asked, still confused, and looked at the car.

Derek opened the backseats door and looked at her waiting.

"Derek," Meredith groaned, still not understanding why it should look familiar to her.

Derek sighed and put, the already sleeping, Morgan on his chest, "This is the place where you were born," he talking in her ear.

Meredith stared at him in awe.

"Impressive, huh?" Derek smirked at her.

"Why?" she asked, not looking impressed at all. "Why is it impressive?"

Derek sighed when he saw she wasn't enjoying the surprise, "You said you wanted a car. The rent car company was more than willing to sell it to me."

"I am not paying for it," she said.

"Then I am offering it to you," Derek replied.

"I won't drive it,"

"Meredith," Derek groaned.

"Why would I want to buy this car? It would be like … buying a hospital bed or table just because I had surgery on it,"

"But your daughter was born in it," he said, trying to make her accept.

"Besides that, everything else was a nightmare. The pain, the shame of being exposed in front of a strange man," she said, gritting her teeth.

"Meredith," Derek chuckled. "You're still feeling ashamed of me after all this time?"

"At that time, I didn't know you," she said. "And it's not just about that. It was a scary evening, Derek."

"But…" Derek wanted to say something more, but he was left speechless by Meredith's refuse of accepting the car.

"It's late and cold outside. I have to get her ready for bed," Meredith said quietly and took the baby from him.

"Meredith, I didn't want to upset you or make you sad," Derek said apologetically.

Meredith tightly held Morgan to her chest, keeping her warm, "Sometimes you do … creepy things. You can keep it if you want to, I don't mind."

"I am weird," he admitted. "But you are weird too."

"Me?"

"Yes. You. What woman wouldn't want to have the car she gave born to her baby?" Derek said.

Meredith laughed sarcastically. "First of all, I am not sure how many women experienced this and secondly, you should feel the hell you go through when you're in labor and then be alone on the street and have a stranger staring at your intimacy. The most important memory of that evening is the moment when I felt my baby lying on my chest and felt her heart beating against mine. Honestly, this car means nothing to me."

Derek sighed and wrapped his arm around her, leading her and Morgan back into the house.

"I appreciate your gesture though," she smiled at him. "Creepy, but… nice too."

Derek smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "I will drive it."


	22. Chapter 22

Meredith's last week of maternity leave passed quickly. Claudia came daily, early in the morning, so that Baby Morgan would see her when she woke up. She quickly learned about Morgan's habits and Morgan had no problem in having another person spoiling her around. Morgan was already used with Claudia's permanent presence in the house, so Meredith and Derek were a little relieved.

Derek moaned softly as he rolled on the other side and held his arm over Meredith's side of bed. He opened his eyes when he found the cold sheet and her body missing. Sleepily he rubbed his eyes and yawned, turning and looking at the alarm clock. It was a little past 4 in the morning and they had at least one more hour of sleep. He sighed and pushed the blanket off as he knew where Meredith was.

The door from Morgan's room was wide opened, so Derek just walked inside and stopped beside the crib, watching Meredith holding Morgan in her favorite spot by the window.

"She woke up?" he whispered as he walked up to them, though he knew the real answer already.

Meredith softly let out a sigh and didn't tear her eyes from her baby, "She won't like it."

Derek crouched beside the chair and gently touched Morgan's hat as he whispered, "She has to get used to it."

Meredith looked at Derek, with her forehead crumpled by worry, "Surgery used to be my life until no long time ago. I don't want her to feel abandoned or neglected."

Derek chuckled quietly and shook his head, disagreeing with her, "It used to be until no long time ago, but now everything has changed. Back then you didn't have Baby Morgan."

Meredith sighed loudly and watched how Morgan rubbed her eyes; she sighed and kept on sleeping peacefully. "Why did I have to choose to become a doctor?" Meredith muttered under her breath.

Derek smiled encouragingly, "Because you love it and you're good at it. We'll make sure we spend quality time with her," he promised.

Meredith just smiled weakly at him and then she looked down at her baby. She lifted her and kissed her on the warm forehead, "I love her," she stated and felt a strong sensation inside her chest and throat as she said those words.

"Of course, you do," Derek smiled and gently stroked her cheek.

"I love her too much and that's why I don't want to have other children," she stated quietly.

Derek was suddenly worried. The expression on her face showed how serious she was. "It's not so bad," he said softly and Meredith looked at him with a questioning expression. "Being a mom," he cleared out.

Meredith nodded in agreement, "It's not bad at all."

Derek was confused now. "Why are you saying this then?"

Meredith smiled weakly at him and then she looked back down at her baby, "Because I don't want to love her less."

Derek couldn't hold back the chuckle, "Is this the reason?"

She glared at him as she thought he was making fun of her, "Yes and it's not funny."

Derek chuckled again and brushed his hand against her cheek, "I can assure you that you won't love her less. I am absolutely sure of it."

Meredith shook her head, refusing to accept his words, "I don't want to risk."

"I am more than absolutely sure of it," he smiled confidently and stood up before he kissed the top of her head. "I will go make the breakfast."

Meredith didn't eat much that morning; she was feeling nausea and felt pain in the pit of her stomach. Derek didn't push her as he knew the reason for her stress.

Meredith was in Morgan's room, holding her into her arms while rocking slowly in the chair, when she heard the doorbell. She sighed heavily, knowing those were the last minutes she had to spend with her baby girl that morning. Meredith smiled when baby Morgan sighed in her sleep.

"Please be good for Claudia and wait for Mommy to come tonight from work. I will be back, I promise," she talked in whisper to her baby. "We have to work and earn money to be able to survive, so… we can't spend the whole day together anymore. Claudia will call me in case you need something emergently. I promise I will be here as soon as possible. You're in good hands," she knew her baby didn't hear or understand her, but somehow, she knew her words would reassure her.

"Mer," Derek said quietly from the doorway.

Meredith looked at him and nodded, sighing as she stood up and took Morgan back into her crib. Derek came by her side and both watched Morgan's peaceful sleep for a few moments.

"It's time to go," he whispered in her ear.

Meredith nodded slowly, still not tearing her eyes from her baby, "I can't move my legs," she muttered under her breath.

Derek chuckled quietly and wrapped a firm arm around her waist, gently pulling her into him, "I could scoop you up," he whispered.

Meredith put her head down on his shoulder, not moving yet. "This feels wrong," she muttered.

"It's a natural feeling," Derek muttered against her temple and kissed her while his hand gripped on her waist in attempt of making her walk.

Meredith resisted to that attempt too and pulled away from his grip. She went over to the shelf where some of Morgan's stuffed toys were and took the teddy bear she had received from Derek the day they were still in the hospital. She returned to the crib and put the teddy bear at the top of Morgan's head.

Derek watched, touched by the scene, how Meredith went back to the shelf and picked another stuffed toy, bringing it as well in her crib.

"Mer," he chuckled quietly and held her wrist when she wanted to go and take another one. "She likes having space."

Meredith glared at him at first, but then she sighed heavily and nodded. "Let's just go," she said reluctantly and leaned down over the crib, gently touching Morgan's chest and feeling her breathing.

Derek waited for her to say her goodbye, but once again, she was late in finishing it as Meredith stayed bent over the crib.

"Seriously, we have to go now," he said, now taking her waist with both hands and pulling her, almost brutally, from the crib.

Meredith held her breath and automatically turned and walked out of the room.

"She'll be fine. She'll be fine," she kept telling herself as she and Derek climbed down the stairs.

"There's no reason for panic right now, Meredith," Derek stated.

Meredith stopped abruptly and glared at him, "And there better be no reason for panic later either."

Derek just shook his head and climbed down ahead.

Claudia felt pity for Meredith when she saw the worry on her features, "I'll call you if I have trouble with anything," she promised.

"Right away," Meredith demanded.

"Right away," she nodded.

Derek gave Meredith her jacket and let her go outside first. "Call me first, just in case," he whispered to Claudia, who nodded in agreement.

------

"You sent me your worst intern. All of you," Meredith glared at Cristina after they gave assignments to their children.

"Hey. I am the main subject for gossips these days, so please spare me of a lousy, clumsy, idiot intern," Cristina grumbled. "Besides, you would have done the same. Admit it."

"No," Meredith frowned offended. "My worst intern would have been like … the best intern."

Cristina stared at her for a moment and then she chuckled teasingly, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"It's not enough that I have a baby at home to be worried about, now I have to take care of 4 other babies," Meredith sighed.

"Just send them to the clinic and they will sting and probably suture themselves," Cristina stated matter-of-factly.

"Seriously?" she smiled. "That's why you don't have any capable intern around here."

"I am curious to see you handling those morons," Cristina shrugged.

Meredith leaned her back against the counter and staring ahead, thoughtful. "I know how to do this."

"Do what?" Cristina asked.

"I know how I can keep my worry off Morgan. The Nanny I hired is perfect, qualified and she knows what she has to do," Meredith stated in a sudden confidence.

"You're not absolutely sure of how good she is," Cristina disagreed.

Meredith turned and frowned at her already-friend, Cristina, "Thank you for being this supportive. I asked my mom to help me on finding more about Claudia's past as nurse and she received only positive answers. So… I need to have trust. Besides, she promised she would call me."

"This means you're not going to call the nanny," Cristina said and Meredith nodded. "Right now," she added and Meredith nodded again. "You're going to call her right after right now," Meredith nodded and walked away.

Meredith didn't want to call Claudia right after 'right now', so she took her interns and did the rounds. That helped her a little from leaving the worries aside. Not for long though, because one of the patients they had visited that morning needed Derek's consult.

"Isn't it great to be at work again?" he smiled, wanting to be supportive.

His attempt failed successfully as Meredith glared at him. "Something is wrong," she said.

"You don't know that," Derek shook his head.

"I know it because I feel it,"

"You feel it because you imagine it," Derek replied knowingly.

Meredith huffed and turned to her interns, who were watching them, "What are you looking at? There's nothing medical in here! Go to your medical work!" she snapped at them and all four of them scattered in different directions.

Derek smiled, shaking his head as he watched Meredith going after one of her interns.

Shortly after he had watched Meredith leaving, Derek's phone rang and suddenly he got worried as well, reading Claudia's name of the display screen.  
He swiftly flipped it open and answered, "Hello, Claudia," he greeted her but then he jerked his ear away from the phone as a deafening crying was coming from the other end of the line, "What's wrong?" he asked, alarmed now.

"Derek," Claudia's voice was barely comprehensible at that point. "I can't calm her down, Derek. She woke up and at first it was ok when I went and picked her up from the crib, but then she started crying and I can't make her stop."

"Is she sick?" Derek asked.

"No. She looked fine when I went to her. She even smiled at me, but after a while she started crying," Claudia explained.

"Has she eaten anything?" he asked then.

"Nothing. She refuses the bottle," she answered. "Do you think she's missing Meredith already?"

Derek sighed, clueless. "Are you sure she's not sick? Maybe she has an ache."

"As I said, she looked fine when she woke up. I paced around the room a little bit to give her time to wake up and then I carried her downstairs in kitchen. Then she started crying," Claudia explained.

"Maybe she needs her diaper to be changed," Derek tried to help.

"I thought about that too, so I changed it, but it didn't help at all," she answered.

Derek sighed, not wanting to admit it. Baby Morgan was missing her Mommy as much as her Mommy was missing her. "Put the phone to her ear or put it on speaker," he suggested.

"One second," Claudia answered and he could hear her breathing as she struggled with the baby and the phone. "It's on speaker now."

"Baby Morgan?" Derek started talking to her. "Why are you so sad? Mommy and Derek will be home soon."

Hearing the familiar voice, Morgan suddenly stopped from crying and just whimpered.

"I think it's working," Claudia whispered.

"Be a good girl for Claudia, ok? Mommy has to work and she can't stay with you all day," Derek continued talking to her. "We talked about this, remember?"

Derek heard her whimper and then her crying.

"She looked around the room, but she couldn't see you and I think this frustrated her," Claudia explained.

Derek let out another sigh. "I have a spare moment so I am coming home."

"That would be helpful, Derek," Claudia sounded a little relieved.

Derek hung up and only announced a nurse about his short departure, leaving the hospital in a hurry, not even changing from his scrubs. When he arrived at Meredith's house, Derek found Claudia upstairs in Morgan's room, rocking her in the rocking chair. Morgan's crying didn't seem as deafening as earlier, showing how exhausted she was.

"Derek," Claudia sighed with relief when she saw him in the doorway and came to him.

When Derek took Morgan into his arms and Morgan saw him, she suddenly stopped. Her face was bright red and her cheeks were stained with tears, despite this, she smiled at him.

Derek pressed his cold cheek against her hot face, hugging her gently, "You need to stop doing this, Baby Morgan."

"Let's change her clothes," Claudia suggested, bringing some clean clothes. "She cried and sweated a lot."

"I will dress her," Derek took the clothes from her. "Can you prepare her a bottle?"

Claudia nodded. "I just have to heat it up."

"What's going on with you?" Derek asked the baby as he put her on the table and started undressing her. "Are you trying to beat a record?" Baby Morgan just stuffed her fingers into her mouth and looked at him with a frown. "I have the feeling that you know what you're doing," he suspiciously looked at her and wished he could read her mind. "You need to stop. Please. For your mommy's sake and mine. And Claudia's." Derek quickly finished changing her clothes, so he picked her up and went to sit in the rocking chair. "Now you know you can tell me everything," he started talking to Morgan again, slowly rocking her. "I know you're used with having Mommy around all the time, but we've told you that won't be possible all the time. We need to work to be able to buy you milk, diapers and clothes."

Morgan still had that frown on her face as she if could understand him but she didn't like what he was saying.

Derek shook his head. "Claudia is a very nice lady. We can't afford to scare her away with the crying," he had started talking again, but stopped suddenly as a dark thought struck him. "She's nice with you, isn't she?" he fearfully asked Morgan. Morgan didn't show any change in her expression. Derek felt like he was going mad in that moment. He refused to believe that Claudia could behave other way but nice to Morgan.

Claudia returned into the room with Morgan's bottle and was a little surprise to see Derek's glare towards her.

Derek tried to compose himself. Morgan didn't look hurt and he knew how he could see if something had happened between Morgan and her Nanny. He stood up and handed Morgan to Claudia, "Can you hold her a little bit? I think I heard my phone beeping."

"Sure," Claudia put the bottle on the table and took Morgan from Derek.

Derek flipped open his phone and discreetly looked at Claudia, watching their interaction while he pretended he was checking his messages. He saw Claudia making a face at Morgan and Morgan laughing and hitting her with her hands. Morgan didn't look disturbed by the fact that she was back into Claudia's arms and not Derek's. Derek sighed and put the phone back into his pocket. Morgan's crying looked more like a tantrum than an abuse from Claudia's side. He felt slightly guilty for suspecting Claudia of something this bad and backed out the black thought. He sat back in the rocking chair and Claudia put Morgan into his arms and gave him the bottle.

"I don't even know what to say, Derek," Claudia stated with a sigh. "Probably you think the worst of me, but I swear I did my best to make her calm down."

"Don't worry," Derek wanted to reassure her.

"No. Really," Claudia insisted. "I felt helpless and like… like I was holding a baby for the first time. I know they cry when they first spend a day without their parents, but at some point they stop."

Derek smiled reassuringly at her and shook his head, "She's a special baby," he said and looked down at Morgan, who was peacefully sucking from her bottle. "I am sure it was just a tantrum. Probably she got it from her father," he stated, absent-mindedly as he didn't pay attention to his own words.

Claudia looked at him with a mix of embarrassment and curiosity. "You really aren't her father?" she finally dared to ask.

Just then, Derek realized he had mentioned one of Morgan's resemblances with Mark. He sighed and flashed a weak smile to Claudia before he smiled down at Morgan, "I'm not."

"Oh," Claudia looked surprised as if she was sure she knew the truth. "I thought you were one of those parents who want to have their children calling them by their name instead of Mommy and Daddy."

Derek looked at her, amused with her presumption, "Meredith told you I was her friend."

"I know," she smiled, embarrassed. "It's just that… you're here all the time and you do… what a Daddy does."

Derek chuckled and smiled down at his baby, "Probably I overreact sometimes, but I love her … I don't have the words to describe the feeling."

"That's nice," she smiled, touched by the sincere love he was showing to Morgan each time he was around her.

"Can you believe that her father doesn't want her?" he asked, in a voice painted with disgust. "He didn't even see her."

"He better not see her, I guess," she answered quietly, glancing at him while she gathered Morgan's clothes.

Derek looked at her questioningly. She smiled and, taking the clothes, she sat down in a chair beside him, "He might want her if he sees her," she said and looked at him knowingly.

Derek knew what she meant, but he didn't want to think about it. Mark was an unpredictable man and that's why Derek refused to let Claudia's words torment him. To him, it was a little too late for Mark to come into Morgan's life.

"I didn't mean to worry you," she said softly, as the pain was easy to read on his features. "She's your daughter already and Meredith and anyone else that sees you with Morgan can't deny it."

Derek smiled at her, lightened up by her words. "It was fate that made me be here, today, in this situation," he said. "Do you know how we met?" he asked Claudia.

She shook her head.

Derek looked down at Baby Morgan, who was still peacefully eating from her bottle and looking at him, and smiled as the memory of that night returned into his mind, "I was on my way to home when I saw a car pulled on the side of the road. I saw a woman inside of it that looked like she was in pain, so, being a doctor, I stopped the car and went to check on her." He stopped and smiled at Claudia, letting her understand the rest.

"Meredith was in labor," she understood.

"She was in great labor," Derek chuckled. "I didn't have had time to take her to hospital, so I stayed with her and I had to… help her."

Claudia was staring at him, with shock, "She gave birth into a car?"

Derek chuckled and nodded, "On the backseats," he added. "Maybe it was because of the circumstance we met, or maybe it was because the next day I found out how lonely they were. I don't know what kept me around them for so long, but one thing I know. I can't stay away now."

"I don't think they want you to stay away anymore," Claudia smiled at him.

"Yeah," Derek chuckled with an unconvinced tone, "Meredith is still reluctant toward us as couple."

Claudia smiled and shook her head disapprovingly, "She's just a newly Mommy." Derek looked at her and didn't know what to believe. "Believe me," she laughed. "Besides …" she hesitated a little before she continued, "There's the other man and Morgan is…"

"No," Derek didn't let her go on and shook his head. "She and Mark didn't have… a relationship. I am absolutely sure of it."

Claudia was surprised with his statement, "Do you know him?"

Derek flashed an uncomfortable smile and looked down at Morgan, "When I said it was fate, it was fate indeed," he muttered. "Mark was my… or … I think he still is," he said, thoughtful, "My best friend."

Claudia was very confused now, "I don't want to seem nosy but this is… confusing? I guess this is the right word."

Derek chuckled and agreed with a nod, "I know what you mean."

"So… why are you really here with them? You feel guilty for your best friend or…"

"No," Derek frowned. "When I met Meredith, I didn't know who she was. I found out much later, when I was already with them. No. I kind of hate the fact that Mark is the father."

"This sounds complicated," Claudia muttered.

"It is, I think," Derek agreed quietly, smiling down at Morgan. "Maybe it isn't now, but…" he sighed and didn't want to go on. He wanted to be optimistic about his future with Meredith and Morgan.

"I am sure Meredith won't be reluctant for long. You're any young mother's dream," Claudia joked, trying to lighten up his mood.

Derek laughed at that.

"Give her some time. I don't know anything about her and Morgan's father, but one thing I know for sure. I know a baby is a huge change in any person's life. Everything revolves around it; your thoughts, your future."

"I have time," Derek nodded.

"Let's hope she's satisfied now," Claudia said, smiling at Morgan, who just spitted the bottle out.

Claudia took the bottle and Derek cleaned Morgan's mouth, lifting her on his chest to burp, "You're getting bigger each day," Derek said to her, "Soon you'll be getting solids for food. Now that's real food."

"A big step," Claudia pointed out, mostly professional. "Do you think Meredith will mind if I make a nutritional plan for Morgan?"

"If it's well-done, I doubt she will mind," Derek said. "I hope your first day with Morgan didn't scare you away."

Claudia smiled at him reassuringly and shook her head, "I will take that as a tantrum."

"Thank you," Derek chuckled. "I hope she will stop missing her Mommy right from this moment."

"She's having a bad morning," she sighed.

"Her mommy isn't a ray of sun this morning either. They both are on warpath," Derek thought about Meredith and her interns and couldn't help but smile. Baby Morgan looked a lot like Mark, but she definitely had some of her Mommy's temper. "Now go to Claudia and let her put you to bed, ok?" he told Morgan. "You'll be spending a lot of time with her today and Mommy and I won't be back until evening."

Morgan smiled at him and stuffed her fingers into her mouth, staying calm while Derek put her into Claudia's arms and her Nanny took his seat in the rocking chair, slowly swinging her and drifting her to sleep.

"Call me if … anything happens," Derek told Claudia before he walked out of the room.

"I hope it won't be necessary," she smiled.

"I hope so too," Derek nodded. "Don't tell Meredith about this. She might want to quit her job. Now I have to go. The Chief wouldn't be happy to see what he pays me for," he chuckled and Claudia quickly made him a sign to be quiet as Morgan was almost asleep.

Hearing Derek's chuckle, Morgan opened her eyes and looked around after the sound. She saw Derek standing in the doorway and then back at Claudia. The slow rocking and the effort she had made with the crying wore her off, so she closed back her eyes.

"Thank you," Claudia whispered to Derek.

Derek nodded and got out of the room, hoping Morgan wouldn't need his or Meredith's company for the rest of the day.

-------

It was late in the evening when Meredith drove back to home, anxiously tapping the steering wheel at each red light and her foot arching for breaking the pedal and speed up. She wanted to get home to her baby girl and not to jail, so she decided to wait for the green light. Derek was probably right behind her as she hadn't had the patience to wait for him and ride back home together.

One question she hadn't asked herself about Derek. Did Derek have a home? Claudia was right when she told Derek about the time he had to give Meredith to sort out her love life. Morgan and everything about her were the first in her mind all the time. Though Derek was sleeping over her house all the time, Meredith didn't notice that.

She pulled the car in the driveway and stopped in front of her house. It had been a great day at work. She had many surgeries, which kept her busy and made the time pass faster; plus her interns didn't prove to be such idiots; or she was just a good teacher.

A smile broke on her face as she looked at her house; quickly she took her bag and got out of the car, wishing to see her baby as soon as possible.

The house was quiet and just a murmur was coming from living room, which stopped when Meredith shut the door. As she walked into the living room, Meredith found Claudia sitting on the couch, with Morgan in her arms, and reading her from a book.

"What are you doing?" Meredith frowned, expressing herself a little harsher than necessary.

Claudia was taken off guard by Meredith's tone. She guilty put the book a side and stood up, "I was reading her from a book. Nothing inappropriate," she said, showing her the book.

"You were trying to make her fall asleep," Meredith grumbled, but softened her voice as she knew she had overreacted the first time. She came to them and took Morgan into her arm.

Claudia smiled, amused. "That wasn't what I mean to do. We were just hanging around. I am sorry."

But Meredith didn't have ears or eyes for anyone else but her daughter. "Hey there, Baby Morgan. Did you miss Mommy?" she sat down in couch as she started talking to her. "I told you I would be back. I did miss you and I did call Claudia to check on you."

"We had a difficult morning, but we were nice the rest of the day," Claudia said.

"Difficult morning?" Meredith glared at her. "You didn't tell me anything about the difficult morning," she scolded. "What happened?"

"Nothing serious," Claudia quickly wanted to reassure her. "She cried a little more than usual, but she calmed down when I gave her the bottle," she said, without mentioning Derek's help.

"How long did it take you to give her the bottle?" Meredith kept scolding.

Claudia didn't look disturbed by Meredith's scold and answered calmly, "I know already when she wakes up, so I had the bottle prepared. She just refused to take it right away."

"But she didn't cry for too long," Meredith said, suddenly worried.

"No," Claudia lied.

"Ok," Meredith sighed and finally let the guard off. "I am sorry," she apologized to Claudia.

"Don't worry," she reassured her. "I cooked something," she said.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled gratefully, "I am not very hungry right now," she said, glancing down at her baby. "You can leave now if you want to."

Claudia nodded, "One thing I want to tell you but please don't get mad," she smiled.

Meredith didn't like to be considered a harsh woman. That made her believe she was just like her mother, "I am just a little stressed because I have to stay away from Morgan for so long," she explained.

"I know," Claudia smiled.

"What was that you wanted to say?" Meredith asked.

Claudia smiled before answering, "You didn't wash your hands."

Meredith laughed and rested her face against Morgan's head, breathing her in. "It won't repeat again."

"I am sure it won't," Claudia laughed.

Claudia gathered her things and said good night to Morgan, who didn't seem to want to go to sleep until she wouldn't spend enough time with her Mommy. As she walked out of the house, Derek's car just pulled up.

"I survived," she giggled. "And I am not talking about the day with Morgan," she said, tilting her head towards the house.

"That's a good sign," Derek laughed, knowing what she was talking about. "Does this mean you will be back in the morning?"

"Definitely," Claudia stated.

"Good night," Derek smiled.


	23. Chapter 23

**Warning: As this is the last update this year and it's a Christmas update, this is super long and hopefully, later I will come back with the last part from Morgan's first Christmas. I hope this isn't a too big inconvenience for you. I didn't have much time for uploading the updates frequently on this website, so now I am a little beind here.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Dana**

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**

It was still early in the evening, though the darkness had fallen over Seattle already, when Meredith pulled the car in front of her house. She took off her seatbelt, pulled the jacket on her shoulders and the hood over her head, gathered her stuff and threw them into the bag, and sighed as she looked out the window at the rain that poured down on it. It was Christmas Eve, but there was no sign of snow. It was also the first Christmas for her baby daughter and also the first Christmas she wanted to feel as Holiday. In her plans, the snow should have been part of the perfect Christmas.

Meredith couldn't stay disappointed; actually, she wasn't disappointed at all. The day had gone flawlessly at work, with plenty and successful surgeries and she also managed to get off from the hospital earlier than usual. For the past couple of weeks, Meredith struggled with the idea of staying away from her daughter for hours and having someone else spending the day with her. She also started getting used to Claudia's presence in her house. By her own rules, Meredith didn't allow Claudia to take Morgan out of the house without her permission, but in every break she had, Meredith called her and asked to talk to her baby.

Baby Morgan had to comply to the new situation also. She still cried the first days when she woke up in the morning and there was no one else at home besides Claudia, and Derek secretly had to run back home each time he could. Fortunately, Baby Morgan learned to listen and recognize their voices by the phone, calming down easier. She was satisfied with her Nanny, who was reading to her from story books. One thing became regular in her life; Baby Morgan refused to fall asleep before she could see her mommy, no matter how late it was when Meredith got home. As her Mommy had her into her arms and rocked her slowly, Morgan instantly fell asleep.

Between Meredith and Derek, things were the same; Derek slept over when he wasn't oncall and Meredith didn't seem to notice his permanent presence in her house. Without questioning herself why, she fell asleep into his arms most of the times.

Meredith sighed as she prepared herself to get out of the car and run quickly through the rain. She shook the rain off her jacket and fumbled after the keys to enter the house. Meredith had the weirdest, but pleasant sensation as she stepped inside. She remained frozen by the door and tried to understand why she felt like that. It was very warm inside and a certain flavor was filling the air; she tried to recognize it, but she couldn't. It was a sweet flavor, but a light one, not like someone was baking cookies. Meredith shook her head and decided to ignore the feeling. She took the jacket off and walked into the kitchen, where the lights were on. Meredith stopped in the doorway and giggled as she saw the fun Morgan was having in her highchair watching Claudia cooking.

Morgan squealed when she saw her Mommy and outstretched her arms to call her to her. Claudia turned then and noticed Meredith.

"Hi," she giggled. "She has started improving her expression."

Meredith agreed with a nod and walked over to the sink to wash her hands; rules were still rules. Then she went and took her baby from the chair, "We're growing up so fast," she said, talking to Morgan and kissing her on the cheek.

Morgan giggled delightfully and lightly slapped Meredith's cheeks with both hands.

"She's extremely cheerful today," Claudia stated.

"I can see that," Meredith laughed at Morgan's bright face. She kissed her baby one more time before she shifted her on her hip and walked over to the counter, where Claudia was chopping something. "So, are we going to try with solid food today?"

"I think it's time," Claudia nodded. "She's still much under the normal weight."

Meredith sighed and nodded, slightly worried. "It's time for you to meet real food," she smiled at her baby. "Good food. To keep us healthy." Morgan smiled and stuffed her fingers into her mouth. "We're going to try it, right?"

"Of course we will," Claudia answered for Morgan. She came to them and showed Morgan a tiny pink bowl and a tiny pink spoon, "Look what Mommy bought for us. We put food in it and eat like a big girl."

Morgan reached for the bowl, but her tiny fist couldn't grab it and she frowned frustrated. "You have time to get familiar to it," Meredith laughed and put the bowl on the table. "What are we trying first?" she asked Claudia.

"I was thinking to give her some rice and carrot, without salt for the beginning," Claudia suggested.

Meredith nodded and smiled at Morgan, "Rice and carrots. Doesn't it sound yummy?"

Morgan looked at her Mommy as she talked to her and giggled at her cooing.

"I am glad you agree," Meredith laughed. "I will go change my clothes and clean up a little in the bedroom," she told Claudia. "She doesn't look hungry so I can come downstairs later and prepare her food."

"Meredith," Claudia smiled. "You know I can cook. I will make prepare the food and call you when it's done."

Meredith felt overwhelmed with Claudia's precious help sometimes. She smiled and nodded, grateful for having the chance to spend a little more time alone with Morgan.

Meredith took Morgan upstairs into her room and put her down on the bed, letting her lean against the pillows. "Stay here. Mommy has to change clothes and make put some order in my papers, ok?" Morgan looked at her, with her hand into her mouth, and started watching how Mommy stripped off the clothes and emptied the bag in the same time.

Meredith walked over to her closet, kneeling beside it as she opened a drawer and looked for a clean sweater. Something familiar caught her eyes; it was familiar to her, but unfamiliar to the drawer. It was one of Derek's navy sweater, neatly folded beside her other clothes. Just then she realized and she finally put the question, "Has he moved in?"

As if she just woke up to reality, Meredith stood up and walked into her bathroom. In her shelves were her products, but also Derek's toothbrush, his cologne and aftershave. Meredith took his cologne and sprayed a little in the air, drawing in air with his scent. She knew Derek so well and yet she didn't know anything. Derek was part of her life now and she didn't want him out. It wasn't only because of his help with Morgan; it was also because of the attention and affection she received from him.

Meredith sighed as she knew it was time to sort out the type of relationship she had with Derek. She didn't have time to think about that as she heard paper rustles coming from her room and wondered if Derek was home. Walking back into the bedroom, Meredith gasped, shocked, seeing Morgan on her stomach and gripping on the papers she had emptied from her bag.

"Morgan," Meredith burst and hurried to take Morgan from the papers.

Morgan stirred and her face crumpled, ready to burst into crying at her Mommy's harsh voice.

"Are you starting to move already?" Meredith asked, softening her voice. "You're really are growing," she muttered with a sigh. She sat down on the bed with Morgan onto her lap and gathered the papers that Morgan had rumpled. A certain paper had her attention. "Do you know what this paper is?" she asked Morgan.

Morgan held her hand out for the paper, but Meredith took care of keeping it out of her grip.

"This paper says you officially have no Daddy," Meredith told her. "But don't worry. I grew up without a Daddy and I survived," she said and added to herself quietly, "It wasn't easy though."

This time, Morgan didn't seem so receptive to what her mother was telling her, as she usually was, and started swaying on Meredith's lap. Her constant movement had Meredith's attention.

"You want to stand on your feet and go wander, huh?" she giggled and kissed the top of her head. "You will do it soon, but only if you start eating what we cook for you. Or what Claudia cooks for you," Meredith added with a giggle. "For you, I promise I will start taking cooking lessons," she promised.

Meredith lay on the bed with her back resting against the headboard and sat Morgan on her stomach, holding her hands to help her stay upright, "We have Derek," she said, remembering the custody papers. "Did you notice how he's always here? He moved in without telling us."

Morgan was watching her Mommy again and something about her – maybe the sound of her voice or her face expression- made her giggle.

"Of course you noticed that," Meredith giggled. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

Not sitting very comfortable in that position, Morgan let out a whip. Meredith lay her down onto her stomach and gently started caressing her tiny back, while Morgan calmed down and started sucking her thumb.

Meredith tilted her head to a side to look at Morgan's face, "Will we keep chatting like we're doing now when you will grow bigger and learn words?" she asked her.

Morgan looked at her mommy and smiled, not letting her thumb slip out her mouth.

Meredith loved having moments like this with Morgan; her tiny body resting onto hers, feeling each inch of her body living. Reluctantly she sighed and stood up, placing Morgan down on the bed.

"We need to clean up around here a little bit and then we go and have dinner, ok?" she kissed her baby's forehead and helped her stay upright, resting against the pillows. "And stop fussing. Your time will come and I am sure you will drive me insane with all the running around the house," she said.

Morgan didn't like her plan and whimpered, swaying and helping herself fall to a side. Meredith groaned and picked her up before she would roll down from the bed and hurt herself. She took her into her arms and with one hand only she started gathering the papers, arranging them in one folder, "I will have to sort these out later."

Meredith was almost done with putting the things to their place when Claudia showed up in the doorway.

"I made the food," she announced.

Meredith nodded and followed her outside, "We're ready for real food. Did you prepare a milk formula?"

"I did," Claudia nodded. "I let it heat slowly."

Meredith took Morgan back into the kitchen and put her in her highchair. Morgan stayed nice and tried to watch what each grown-up was doing.

Meredith tasted first from the rice and carrots and made a slight grimace at Claudia, "My poor baby."

"We all grew up thanks to this," Claudia laughed as she put a towel on Morgan's chest.

Meredith mixed the paste of rice and carrots a little bit more and then she took Morgan's spoon and brought the bowl to Morgan. She took a very small quantity from the bowl with the tip of the spoon and took it to Morgan's mouth.

Morgan didn't like what was happening around her. Claudia was behind her, holding down her arms each time she wanted to reach for the spoon, and Meredith was closely leaning to her as she showed her the spoon with food. Morgan turned her face away and started crying.

"I think she feels suffocated," Claudia seemed to have understood her, "I will go sit down at the table."

Morgan just whimpered as she watched Claudia leaving and sitting down at the table. Meredith had stepped back as well, slightly discouraged.

"I know you want candies and cookies, but you're still too little for having sugar," Meredith tried to explain. She put the bowl in front of Morgan, trying to have her interest for the pink bowl again. Morgan grabbed the edge of the bowl, calmer now, and looked curiously at her mother. "Here," Meredith tried again and took the spoon to her mouth, "Open your mouth and take this in. It's not much and you down have to chew it."

Morgan pulled back a little as she carefully looked at the spoon and its content. She giggled then and hit the spoon with her hand, sticking the food against it.

"Morgan," Meredith groaned at the mess Morgan had started making already.

"Leave her," Claudia cut in. "It's something new to her."

Meredith looked back at Morgan and watched how Morgan analyzed her dirty palm and took it to her mouth. Her mouth was smudged of the paste now but most of it was inside her mouth.

Meredith smiled at Claudia and sighed with relief. "Let's try with the spoon though," she said and took a little food in it. The spoon looked interesting to Morgan too as she watched it heading to her mouth again. She looked into Meredith's eyes as she slowly opened her mouth.

Meredith's hand froze in that moment. She put the spoon back into the bowl and turned to Claudia, "How much does the spoon have to be inside her mouth?" she asked fearfully. "I don't want to stuff it down her throat."

Claudia started laughing and stood up. She came by her side and took the spoon.

"No," Meredith stopped her and grabbed the spoon back. "I want to do it. I just … don't know how."

Claudia kept laughing, "Imagine she's a doll. I am sure you fed your dolls when you were little."

Meredith stared at her, dumbfounded. "My dolls didn't open their mouths."

Claudia nodded, "Exactly. But you were still feeding them."

Meredith furrowed her brows, frustrated because she couldn't understand what Claudia was trying to say, but then it struck her. "I just have to take it to her mouth."

"See," Claudia laughed. "Simple."

Meredith took a deep breath before she tried again. She took the spoon to Morgan's mouth and Morgan opened her mouth as she had done before. Her lips brushed off almost the entire food from the tip of the spoon and held the food inside. Meredith held her breath as she waited for Morgan to swallow it and sighed again when she saw Morgan opening her mouth for more.

"That's my girl," Meredith laughed and leaned in, kissing her on the forehead.

In the same time, Morgan threw her hand inside the bowl and served herself with more food. Generously of her, she offered some food to her Mommy, but she didn't know to take it to her mouth and spread it in her hair.

"Morgan!" Meredith groaned and pulled away. "Not my hair."

Claudia took a napkin and gave it to Meredith, "I guess I should have suggested you to gather your hair to back."

"yeah," Meredith smiled and wiped the hair with the napkin.

"Do you want me to take over?" Claudia asked.

Meredith shook her head. It was her baby's first real meal, a big event in her life, and she was willing to have rice and carrots paste as mask for her hair if needed.

Morgan took just one more time from the food Meredith gave her and then she sternly refused to have more. Meredith cleaned up her face while Claudia brought the bottle.

Having Morgan laying down in her arms and eating from her bottle, Meredith heard for the first time the carols.

"Is that a Christmas carol?" Meredith asked Claudia with a giggle.

"Yes," Claudia smiled. "I hope you don't mind. We listened to them all day," she said, smiling at Morgan. "I think she's excited about meeting Santa for the first time and that's why she has been so cheerful today."

"I don't mind," Meredith said with a weak smile. "I wish I know how to do this right for her."

"Do what?" Claudia asked, confused.

"This," she said, looking at the radio and then at the tray with unbaked cookies. "Help her get into the spirit of Christmas. I don't know how to do it."

Claudia was confused with Meredith's words. "It's comes naturally. She feels it in the people around her and she takes it in as well."

"Here's the problem. I am not in the Christmas spirit. I don't start thinking about the Christmas tree and the lights all over the house when December comes. What's with this Holiday anyway?" she asked. "Besides the religious meaning? I mean, how do you get the Holiday spirit?"

Claudia was still confused as she couldn't understand how any person could ask something like that. As she had said, the spirit of Christmas came as a natural feeling to her and that was how she knew it should have been for all the people.

"Didn't you… celebrate Christmas when you were little?" she asked her.

Meredith looked at her with innocent eyes, "My mom taught me some certain believes," she muttered. She sighed and smiled down at her baby, "I want her to have normality. I hope I will know how to offer it to her."

"Meredith," Claudia said with a soft smile. "You have your baby now and that means a completely new life. I am sure this Christmas will be different. It will be Christmas."

"I hope so," Meredith sighed, not encouraged by Claudia's assurance. Her doubts directed her thoughts to her mother, the responsible person for her present worry. "She seems so… nice to Morgan," she said, mostly talking to herself.

"Who?" Claudia asked, confused.

Meredith looked at her and then down at Morgan and smiled, "My mom."

"She's her only granddaughter," Claudia answered.

"I am her only daughter," Meredith replied quietly, not looking away from her baby.

Just then, Claudia understood why they were having that discussion. She sighed and pulled a chair beside Meredith's. "Some people are just not ready to become parents. Forced by the spouse or society, they keep the pregnancy and they… refuse to want it and love it after the baby is born, and most of the times they wake up too late and start to hate themselves for it. Their child… or children have their own children. Grandchildren allow them to offer what they didn't have the courage to offer to their children."

"You seem to know what you talk about," Meredith said.

Claudia smiled, "My mother-in-law wasn't a perfect mother for my husband, but she was amazing when our children were born. I remember, my husband could not believe her. He thought she had some secret purposes with her presumed love for her grandchildren. But she didn't. She just secretly regretted she wasn't a mother for her son."

Meredith liked to hear that. She wanted to believe that the same thing was happening with her mother. Ellis called more than once to ask about Morgan, most of the times calling only when Meredith wasn't at home.

"Again," Claudia said before she stood up, "You have Morgan. And Derek. This will be a special Christmas and I have no doubt of it."

Meredith smiled, this time a little more encouraged. Maybe that strange sensation she felt when she walked into the house was the start of the Christmas spirit.

After she ate, Meredith put Morgan down for a nap. While Morgan slept, she rearranged her papers, especially the custody papers, which she hid them in the back of a drawer, not wishing to have Derek know about them.

Derek's things were everywhere; even in the drawer she hid the papers. She took out one of his sweaters and breathed in his scent; it was already a very familiar scent to her and closing her eyes as she breathed it in, Meredith had his picture in her head. She smiled and slowly opened her eyes; she looked down at the sweater from her hands and smiled. Probably if she had realized the fact that Derek had moved in weeks ago, she would have thrown him out. Everything was different now; Derek had secretly become part of her life, a part she couldn't imagine herself without. As she put the sweater back into the drawer and closed it, Meredith asked herself, "Should we talk about this?"

Meredith wasn't in the mood to meditate over that right in that moment. She walked into Morgan's room and checked on her before she went downstairs, to spend some time with Claudia.

Meredith was helping Claudia with the ingredients for the cookies Claudia wanted to bake for Christmas, when they heard Morgan's crying in the baby monitor. Meredith quickly hurried to her daughter, turning on the lights as she walked inside.

"Hey there," she smiled down at the cranky baby and picked her up into her arms. "That was a short nap," she started talking to her, slowly bouncing her and pacing around the room.

Baby Morgan slowly started calming down and put her head down on Meredith's shoulder, going quiet as she started sucking her thumb. Meredith walked over to the window and sat down on the large windowsill. It was dark outside and the rain had stopped; the sky looked clearer than ever, so her eyes locked on the bright stars. She turned Morgan so that she would sit onto her lap and be able to watch outside as well.

"I don't think I showed you the stars," Meredith whispered in her ear and took her tiny hand in hers, pointing out the window, "Look up at the sky," she said, "Those sparkling spots are stars and the big round ball is the moon. They don't mean anything to me, but I like watching them."

Morgan didn't seem interested in the subject as she was more preoccupied with stuffing her fingers into her mouth and watch her clothes.

"Morgan," Meredith called her name and to her surprise, Morgan looked up at her Mommy. Meredith laughed and kissed her daughter's warm cheek, "You're growing up so fast; haven't I told you that already?" she sighed and nuzzled through her hair, "Don't hurry to grow up. Stay like this for a little longer."

Morgan looked up at her and giggled, reaching with her tiny hand to her Mommy's face. Meredith took her hand and kissed it, "You're my baby girl," she sighed with a smile and hugged her tighter. "Why don't we go take a bath now?" she suggested. "This is the night when Santa comes and…" she stopped as she remained frozen. A cold chill swept through her body. "We don't have a Christmas tree," she muttered. Many years passed since Meredith last thought about the Christmas tree and the same many years passed since she last decorated one. The Christmas tree tradition had been lost for her; lost until now. "Don't worry. Let's not panic," she said to Morgan as she stood up, though Morgan didn't look panicked or worried. She was satisfied with the taste of her own fingers.

Meredith put Morgan in the middle of the bed and threw some pillows around, hurrying to get to the closet. "Stay here. You're not allowed to get near the edge, are we clear?"

Morgan smiled and threw her arms in the air.

Meredith opened the closet and pulled a chair in front of it, so that she could climb it and reach to the highest shelf. She pushed some boxes away until she found the one she was looking for; a medium size, dark green box; dusted, of course.

She climbed down and entered her bathroom and cleaned the dust of the box. When she returned into the bedroom, Meredith sighed and shook her head as she saw Morgan struggling to roll over the pillows.

"Are we going somewhere?" Meredith put the box down on the bed and picked Morgan up. "Please, baby, don't give me a headache, ok? Look, you can stay and move on the bed, but only beside me. I want to show you something."

Leaning against her mother's side, Baby Morgan watched how her mommy took a plastic tree out of the box.

"This was Mommy's Christmas tree," she told her baby. "I have a few ornaments and we'll make it look very pretty right away."

With her finger in her mouth, Morgan looked up at her Mommy with curious eyes.

"Your first Christmas," she smiled and for the first time, she noticed Morgan's hair had grown as well; she pushed it behind her ear and leaned down, lovingly kissing her on the forehead. "Bath time now," she said and jumped up. "We'll decorate the Christmas tree later. Now we have to hurry because if Derek comes home, he won't even let me touch you," she picked the baby up and carried her into her room.

Morgan kept surprising her mommy that evening when in her bathtub, she started playing with the water, giving her mommy a bath as well. Meredith struggled with her a little and at some point she even regretted she hadn't waited for Derek to help her, but she finally succeeded and Baby Morgan was wrapped in her tiny, fluffy bathrobe.

Since Morgan was born, Meredith discovered a new hobby; shopping for her baby girl. Therefore, at the age of nearly 5 month old, Morgan had a big closet for herself, though most of them were no longer fitting on her. For Christmas, Meredith bought her several dresses, of all the colors and designs. Though she didn't like wearing dresses, Meredith loved to see her baby girl dressed like a princess. She chose a pink cotton dress for that evening, with a red ribbon wrapped around the waist.

Morgan giggled all the time her mommy dressed her, especially when she put the pink bootees in her feet.

"We look like a princess now," Meredith smiled proudly, taking her baby into her arms. "Like a real princess," she couldn't help but giggle when Morgan played shy and hid her face in Meredith's shoulder. "I don't have a comb for you," she said, thoughtfully looking at Morgan's blonde hair. "I don't think I can keep up with you," she sighed and sat down on the bed, with Morgan on her lap. Her hair was still rare, so Meredith just had to run her fingers through it once to brush it. She smiled and played with a lock of her hair, noticing her curls for the first time.

'We have curls," Meredith giggled at her baby and Morgan giggled in response. "Derek has curls too, just that his are dark and yours are golden."

Morgan looked at her curiously and Meredith nodded, "Yours are much prettier, of course," she giggled and kissed her. "Should we talk to Derek about his housing or should we pretend we didn't notice that he lives here now?" She asked her, of course not expecting an answer.

Morgan just loved her fingers and the hem of her dress, not really bothering to answer in anyway to her mother's question.

Meredith sighed, thoughtful, and gently pressed her chin on the top of Morgan's head, "I think I want you to grow up so that you start talking to me. I feel ridiculous talking to myself."

Morgan turned then and took Meredith by surprise with her expressive frown. Meredith stared at her speechless for a moment, but then she shook her head. She wanted to believe that her baby girl was special, but her medical knowledge made her doubt. Of course, brain still held its mysteries.

Meredith heard several voices, most of them as shouts, coming from outside. She stood up and carried Morgan to the window. As she looked up, Meredith recognized Derek's car, Derek and Izzie. On the top of Derek's car was something that looked like a Christmas tree.

"What are they doing here?" she asked herself, also noticing other several people. Carrying Morgan in her arms, Meredith walked out the room and went downstairs.

Coming down the stairs, Meredith saw Izzie hurrying inside, closely followed by Cristina, and some loud voices coming from living room.  
Meredith questioningly looked at Cristina, who just smiled and shrugged innocently.

"You're the Chief here," she said, closing the door. "I came with peaceful thoughts."

Meredith was clueless. She shifted Morgan on her hip and, together with Cristina, they followed the others into the living room.

"That's wonderful," she heard Claudia giggling as they walked into the room. "I wanted to ask you why you didn't have a Christmas tree yet," she said to Meredith.

Meredith was too dazzled to hear anyone or even think. She stared at the people around her, which were moving her furniture. Then, her eyes flickered on the huge Christmas tree, scanning it on its entire height.

"Help me push the couch closer to the window, O'Malley," she heard Derek saying as he bent and tried to lift the couch. George hurried to help him and both struggled with the heavy furniture as they moved it away from its spot.

"Not there," Izzie's whine had her attention as well. "Let's put the tree beside the window. This way you can have a beautiful view from outside as well. Besides, you can see it before you walk inside. You hide it if you put it by this wall."

Derek and George dropped the couch, panting, and Derek considered Izzie's suggestion. "You're right. Let's move it by the wall," he said to George and both took deep breaths before they grabbed the couch again.

"It's going to look fabulous, Mer," Izzie beamed and twisted a strand of hair Morgan's hair around her finger.

The couch finally seemed to have found its position and Derek came panting to Meredith. He stroked Morgan's cheek while he kissed Meredith, and smiled proudly at her, "I bought some decorations as well. I couldn't find any in your closets."

Meredith stared at her, expressionless. "My closets," she muttered.

"Why are you shocked?" he chuckled. "Everyone has a Christmas tree this time of year."

Meredith continued to stare at him. Slowly she came out of the trance and started looking at the people around her; a lot of people; noisy people; she felt crowded and claustrophobic with them, not being used to have so many people in her house.

"I have a Christmas tree," she said quietly, nothing from her voice or face betraying the anger that was building inside of her.

"You do?" Derek furrowed his brows, curious, and looked around the room. There was no other tree besides the one he had brought. "Did you put it some place else?" he asked her.

"It's in my room and it's small and from plastic. And I had in a box in the back of the closet, forgotten because I haven't taken it out for years," Meredith said, and slowly the anger was mixing with the words.

"I bought a bigger one and natural. You can feel its smell," Derek smirked.

"This tree must be 200 year old and got to see history and confronted storms and other hazards. It survived for centuries in conditions that humanity will never be able to survive. Someone woke up one morning and decided to cut it and sell it, just to be used for what? 2 weeks? They killed this tree so that we can enjoy its smell for 2 weeks. Its 2 centuries ended just like that. For us to have it 2 weeks and they throw it away when it could have lived 2 more centuries. Do you want me to enjoy this? My Christmas tree is very little and plastic, but I was very happy with my plastic tree when I was little!"

Meredith's outburst came out of nowhere and took everyone by surprise, leaving them speechless and shocked. The only one who reacted to her outburst was Baby Morgan, who didn't like the tone her Mommy had used.

Meredith gave them one more despiteful look before she kissed her daughter and turned around, leaving them there. She went back upstairs into her room and closed the door, leaning against it and trying to understand what exactly she had done. She had meant what she said about the tree, but she knew she had overreacted. The sudden change from her life overwhelmed her and led to that outburst. Morgan was the biggest change, but she started getting used to it; same as Derek's presence in her life. Now there were the friends too. She had never had so many friends; or at least, she never had them all in the same place. Her Christmases had been quiet; most of the Christmas mornings she spent with her nanny, as child, and alone, as teenager; and the Christmas dinners were simple, with regular food, together with her mother. Rarely she listened to carols and felt the smell of homemade cookies.

Meredith kissed Morgan and tried to calm her down. "I am so sorry, baby. I didn't mean to react like that. I just..." she walked over to the bed and sat down, sighing. "I don't think I know how people spend Christmas."

A soft knock in the door made Morgan stop from crying and Meredith look up. She saw Derek sheepishly walking inside. "Hey," he said softly.

Meredith wanted to reassure him that no harm would be done; she faintly smiled at him and then she brushed her cheek against Morgan's head.

Derek hesitated by the door, not knowing what to say. He had definitely not expected to that reaction from her; from nobody actually. He hadn't believed that a reaction like that was possible in the first place.

Meredith didn't dare to look at him anymore; she held her eyes on her baby's dress, welling with tears.

Derek noticed the tears that were threatening to pour out her eyes and came to kneel in front of her. He brushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind the ears, lovingly looking into her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Meredith sniffled back the tears, "I overreacted. I am sorry."

"You did," he agreed with a smile. "You're right about it though."

"I just…" Meredith sniffled again and wiped her eyes. "I want Morgan to feel the spirit of Christmas and its joy. I was happy with my Christmas tree," she said, looking at him. "I really was. I want her to be happier for Christmas. Have a different Christmas than I did."

"She will," he smiled reassuringly.

"Because you're here," she muttered. "Otherwise she would have been convicted to a lousy Christmas."

"I am sure that's not true," he shook his head. "You would have found a way to offer her a real Christmas."

"No," she shook her head as well. "I am … Christmasly retarded."

"Christmasly retarded?" he laughed.

Meredith didn't seem to have tasted his joke. "There are too many people in my house, Derek Friendly people."

"Would you have preferred maniac people?" he asked her with a chuckle.

"That's not funny," she frowned.

Derek stood up and came to sit on the bed beside her, "Do you want me to tell them to leave?" he asked in a more serious tone now.

"No," she muttered. "I guess that's what Christmas is about. Having friendly people around you."

"See how simple it is?" he smiled. "If you don't like it, then next year don't call them and don't buy a Christmas tree. Actually, the Christmas tree is off the list anyway," he sighed. "A plastic one is not a bad idea."

She half-smiled at him.

"You've made it through your daughter's first months of life, now it's time for new sensations," he added.

Meredith sighed, ready to go and face new frontiers. Morgan leaned her head against her chest, watching Derek with a frown while chewing her fingers.

"I think I kind of ruined her Christmas mood," Meredith muttered, gently playing with Morgan's hair.

"That's not possible," Derek chuckled. "She hasn't even met the Christmas spirit yet," he said, holding out his hands for her. He took her from Meredith and laughed as he tossed her in air and Morgan laughed delightfully, slapping him in the face as he lay down on the bed with her. "Look at you. You look like a princess," he smiled at her while he held her in the air. "We look pretty for Santa, huh?"

Meredith watched the interaction between Morgan and Derek and once again she was amazed of how natural they looked together. She lay down next to him, smiling up at Morgan "She has curls," she said.

Derek noticed that for the first time as well, "She does," he laughed and couldn't help but kiss Morgan's both cheeks. His big grin slowly faded into a small smile as he turned and looked at Meredith, "She has his curls."

Meredith just stared at him. That wasn't the response she wanted to hear from him, though it hadn't sounded envious.

"You have curls too," she managed to mumbled.

Derek chuckled and nodded. "I do and you have some sort of blonde hair." He smiled at her and then he kissed Morgan, who was now peacefully lying on his chest. "I am sorry I had to point that out," he said quietly.

Meredith rolled onto her side and propped her head in her hand, "I went and took the papers from the lawyer today. Everything is clear now. She's mine only."

Derek stroked her cheek and leaned to her, kissing her softly on the lips, "Would you mind sharing her?"

Meredith giggled and shrugged her shoulders.

"At least for this time of the year," he smirked.

Baby Morgan didn't seem to mind the fact that they grown-ups were all over her; she laughed and grabbed a hold onto Meredith's sleeve as she rolled over.

"She keeps moving," Meredith groaned.

Derek laughed and stood up, taking Morgan into his arms, "Is it a tragedy?"

"I guess not. It's just that… she grows up so fast and I work most of the time. I feel like time is flying by and I am missing every change in her life," Meredith stated with a sigh. She stood on the edge of the bed, watching Morgan playing with Derek's shirt. "I like her to grow up and learn how to speak and do other things together besides eating and rocking, but I think I want her to stay little and cute too."

"Aww, Meredith," Derek laughed. "She'll always be cute. Tell her that, Morgan," he said to Morgan. "Tell her you're a princess and all the princesses are cute."

Morgan surprised them when she threw a fist towards Meredith, frowning.

"Did you see that?" Meredith gasped, jumping up on her feet.

"I think I did," Derek said astonishingly, unable to tear his eyes from the baby.

"And earlier, when I called her name, she looked up at him," Meredith said.

"She recognizes her name?" Derek looked at her surprised.

"Yes," Meredith nodded proudly.

Derek pressed a strong kiss on Morgan's cheek, "I think time does fly by too fast," he muttered.

"See what I meant?" Meredith sighed.

Derek sighed as well and couldn't help but feel a little depressed by that fact. But he was brighter than Meredith about that.

"Baby Morgan will soon become Miss Morgan, isn't that so?" he started talking to Morgan. Morgan giggled at the faces he was making and tried to pinch him on the cheeks.

"You miss Mark?" Meredith asked him.

Derek was a little taken by surprise with her question, though he knew he had mentioned Mark earlier and maybe that was the reason for it. "I miss his friendship," he nodded, but he was determined not to let the Mark topic ruin their Christmas Eve and Morgan's first holiday. "We have to figure out what to do with that tree."

Meredith took Morgan from him, saying, "Let's offer it a decent funeral," she smiled at him and walked outside.

"I didn't know you were ecologist," Derek said as he followed her outside.

"I am not. My mom told me that when I was little and …" she shrugged. "She had a point with that."

"She had," Derek agreed. "I don't think I can even enjoy the memories of the Christmases I had as child anymore."

"Don't dramatize, Derek," Meredith rolled her eyes.

"You caused all this drama," he pointed out, sprinting to catch up with her. He put an arm around her waist as the walked down the stairs together.

In living room, Cristina was sitting in the couch, browsing a magazine, while Izzie was sulking in a chair, staring blankly at the floor with George at her feet.

Derek cleared his throat to have their attention.

"Finally," Cristina stood up and walked over to Meredith. "This place looks like a funeral is about to take place," she muttered, taking Morgan from Meredith. Cristina and Morgan weren't friends, as Cristina several times wanted to mention. Cristina and Morgan were just bonding.

"A funeral is about to take place," Meredith nodded and everyone turned and looked shocked at her.

Derek leaned to her ear and whispered, "I don't think 'funeral' is the proper word."

Meredith agreed with a nod. "I am sorry for… my outburst. I think that was a little out of the line."

"No, it wasn't," Izzie shook her head. "You're right. We are so selfish. How could we be so selfish?"

"Now it doesn't matter anymore…"

"Of course it matters," Izzie frowned.

"Izzie, the tree is dead. Can we just decorate it now? Or should we just throw it away?" Derek snapped.  
Though nobody knew it, Baby Morgan was already in the Christmas spirit and she didn't like to feel and hear the tension around her, so her forehead filled with tiny wrinkles.

"I am telling you, it's easier to be Jewish," Cristina whispered in her ear. "We don't kill old trees and…"

"Hey," Derek snapped as he overheard Cristina. "Are you trying to talk her out of the Christmas spirit?"

"Cristina, please leave in her in the Christmas spirit," Meredith cut in, rolling her eyes. "Izzie, the tree is here now and… this is Morgan's first Christmas so… let's make it look pretty."

Izzie sighed and, looking at Morgan, she reluctantly nodded.

"This is worse than finding out that Santa isn't real," they all heard George muttering under his breath. As answer to that, Izzie slapped hard the back of his head, with hiss pointing to Morgan.

"She's more preoccupied with the taste of Cristina's hair. I kind of doubt that she heard me; barely to understand me," George grumbled.

"Oh no," Cristina grimaced as she saw the saliva in her hair. "Can't they afford to feed you?"

"First of all, don't underestimate her intelligence," Meredith scolded at George, "And of course we can afford feeding her," she said to Cristina. "She actually had her first solid meal today," she added with a smirk.

"She what?" Derek burst, visibly not pleased with what he heard.

"She had rice and carrots," Meredith smirked.

"And why did she had them without me?" he scolded.

Meredith knew what he was talking about. He was jealous for not being there to Morgan's first solid food. "She didn't eat all. I think there's left in the kitchen," she mockingly replied.

"Funny," Derek rolled his eyes with grumpiness.

"Oh yes. That sounds like Christmas," Cristina stated, holding Morgan on her knees and bouncing her. "Baby Morgan, why did you poop when Derek wasn't around?"

Derek grabbed a pillow from an armchair and threw it to Cristina, half-hitting Morgan as well.

"Derek!" Meredith slapped him hard over his arm, though Morgan seemed to have enjoyed the pillow fight as she was giggling delightfully.

"It was a light pillow," he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing hard or even light hits my baby. Are we clear?" She lifted her brows. "People do stupid things for Christmas," she threatened him.

"Only depressed people," he replied. "People that are lonely for Christmas. You're not lonely for Christmas."

"I am crowded for Christmas," she pointed out.

Derek chuckled and clasped her face in his hands, pouting her lips and kissing them. Meredith giggled and playfully slapped his hands away.

"Now that sounds like Christmas," Izzie giggled. "Can we start with the tree?"

"I think we should start with it," Derek nodded with a frown towards Meredith. "Now seriously, I am still pissed about it."

"Are you serious?" Meredith glared. "Was I supposed to let her starve?"

"Derek is still pissed. What can we do about that?" Cristina kept talking to Morgan, mocking Derek.

"Please stop!" Derek warned her. "You don't have children, so you don't get to mock me."

His statement left Meredith stunned. It was for the first time when she heard Derek talking about Morgan as his own child. A discreet smile crept on her face, not discreet enough for Cristina, who was staring at her knowingly. Meredith met her stare and quickly shook her head, trying to look as if she hadn't heard anything.

Derek didn't seem aware of what he had said as he took George to help him set the tree by the window.

"Peaceful evening at last?" Claudia asked with a chuckle as she returned in living room with a plate of cookies.

"Shh," Cristina shushed her as she stood up and came to take the plate. "They're quiet finally."

Claudia laughed and nodded. "I am done with the cookies."

"Are you leaving?" Meredith asked her.

"My children are in town and they are waiting for me," Claudia answered. "They leave tomorrow, so I can be back the day after tomorrow."

"That's fine. I have the day off tomorrow anyway," Meredith nodded.

Claudia said goodbye to Morgan and to the rest of the guests, being walked by Meredith to the door.

As she returned in living room, Meredith instinctively looked at Morgan, checking on her. She shook her head as she saw Cristina eating from the cookies that Claudia had made and Morgan trying to reach up to her hand, whimpering.

"Why don't you leave the cookies for later?"

"Because they're fresh now," Cristina shrugged.

"You seem to be teasing her," Meredith said.

"No," she shook her head. "I am just eating a cookie. In case you didn't notice, I am the only one available to sit with her; unless you want to hang her in the tree."

"She will give me a reason to kill her if she gives Morgan a cookie," Derek whispered in Meredith's ear.

Cristina groaned loudly as she obviously heard Derek. "No cookies for Cristina," she said, pushing the plate away on the coffee table. She stood up, shifting Morgan in her arms, "How can they think I can give you cookies when you don't even have teeth. I'm seriously worried about," they heard her talking to Morgan. "Let's go find something interesting to do."

"Don't go too far," Meredith shouted after them.

Meredith found herself enjoying the decoration of the tree; it was definitely more pleasant to decorate a tall, real Christmas tree than her little plastic one. The sparkling decorations and the tree's fresh smell were exhilarating to her.

Derek had turned on the carols on the radio while Cristina stayed with Morgan on a couch, reading her from a medical journal.

"It's time to turn the lights on," Meredith giggled, thrilled with the look of their Christmas tree.

"Not just yet," Derek smirked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Meredith looked at him, puzzled, and saw him motioning to Izzie and George.

"We have to go now," Izzie stated, grabbing George's hand. "Where can we go?" she asked Derek.

"Hmm," Derek thought about that for a moment. "Go take the things from the car and you can get ready into the kitchen."

"Get ready for what?" Meredith asked him.

Derek just smirked at her and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll go get the camera."

"Camera?" Meredith insisted. But Derek just smirked and didn't say anything in return as he walked out of the room.

Meredith looked at Cristina and was surprised to see her putting away the magazine, looking as if she knew what was about to happen.

"Tell me everything," Meredith demanded, coming and sitting in the couch next to her. She took Morgan from her and put her on her lap.

"Your mom has a fantastic collection of medical journals. You should secure your office," Cristina avoided the answer.

"Cristina," Meredith groaned.

"Leave her alone, Meredith," Derek laughed as he returned in living room. He sat down at their feet and pinched gently on Morgan's cheek.

"Are we waiting for something?" she asked him. "Why are you sitting and what are you doing with the camera?"

"Your patience will be well rewarded," Derek smirked.

Morgan giggled and leaned down to him, grabbing a lock of his hair in her fist. Derek put the camera down next to him and took the baby from Meredith, placing her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her tiny body, letting her lean against his body and play with his watch. They stood there like that, playing together, for several minutes until Izzie came back, dressed in a Santa costume.

"Ready," she beamed, smiling down at Derek.

"Great," Derek stood up and gave Morgan back to Meredith. He took the camera and set it, ready to record the next moment.

"Morgan, because you've been a good baby, a special guest came to see you tonight," Izzie said to Morgan.

Recognizing her name again and finding interesting Izzie's dress, Morgan looked up at her, staring with curious eyes.

Izzie pointed to the door and made a sign for the guest to walk in, so a joyful Santa walked in, a little too fast for his presumed age.

"I thought you were old, Santa," Izzie smiled nervously, glaring at Santa.

Santa stopped and nodded as he understood what Izzie was trying to say. "Ho…" he cleared his throat and tried to sound older, "Ho-ho," he announced his presence and started trailing the big red sack of presents after him to the chair that Izzie had left by the tree. He tripped over something and cursed Izzie under his breath.

Meredith laughed and could not believe what Derek and her friends had done. She stood up, with Morgan in her arms and came beside Derek – who was recording everything, from Santa's entrance to Meredith and Morgan's reactions.

Morgan had her fingers into her mouth, staring at the weird character, which had showed up in her living room. She looked at Meredith too and meeting her infectious smile, Morgan giggled as well.

Santa sat down in the chair, pretending to be panting, and winked at Izzie. "What a moron," Izzie groaned, rolling her eyes.

"I think he's cute," Meredith giggled. "You're doing a wonderful job, George. Thanks."

"Santa George," Izzie whimpered, glaring at her.

"Now I have to edit the tape," they heard Derek muttering and stopping the camera. "Can you act or not?" he scolded Izzie and George.

"We're surgeons, not interns," George muttered.

"We're doing our best," Izzie winked at him and made him a sign to turn the camera on again.

Derek gave them a warning glare and then started the camera again.

"Is that Baby Morgan?" Santa asked, re-arranging his fake glasses on his nose.

Morgan was still fascinating by the weird old man, so her eyes were fixed on him.

"Let's have a talk, Baby Morgan," Santa said, holding his arms out for the baby.

Meredith was like a big child, enjoying the most of Santa's presence. She walked over to Santa and put Morgan onto his lap. Morgan didn't seem to like that as she let out a whine and held her arms out to go back to her Mommy.

"He's Santa, baby," Meredith knelt in front of them, softly talking to the baby. "Santa is babies' best friend. Stay and meet him."

Morgan still wasn't very comfortable with the stranger holding her, but as Meredith held one of her hands, she felt more secure.

"I heard there was a new baby in town, so I had to come and meet the pretty girl that everyone was talking about. Was baby Morgan a good baby?" Santa asked Meredith.

"The best baby," Meredith giggled.

Feeling her Mommy's good mood, Morgan started to be less shy. She even turned and looked back at Santa, carefully analyzing his face, especially his beard. She looked at Meredith and then back at Santa before she grabbed a strong grip on Santa's beard, wanting to taste it.

"Oh no, sweetie," Santa George chuckled, taking her hand out of his fake beard. "That's not for eating. I came to give you presents; many presents. Do you have any idea how many people wrote me letters for you?" he asked while he leaned down and opened the sack, fumbling after the first present.

The first present was a large pink box, "This one, Mommy requested it for you," he said.

Meredith looked at Derek, confused, as she didn't know what Santa was talking about. Derek just winked and motioned for her to look at Santa.

"Mommy told me that you like dresses," Santa said, opening the box. "In here, we have a pink dress with matching jacket and hat for winter." The clothes were extremely pretty, with a snow man embroidered on each clothing item. "Mommy also asked me to bring you a doll that looks like you," Santa continued, taking out of his sack a big doll.

Meredith gasped as she saw it. That was the present she had bought it indeed, but she hadn't had the opportunity to give it to her yet; a porcelain doll with blonde curls and beautiful blue eyes. She looked at Derek with a grateful smile. Derek leaned in and kissed her, before he reset the camera on Santa and baby Morgan.

Baby Morgan liked more the doll than the clothes and she held her hands out for it, so Santa left it onto his lap beside her.

"I also received a letter from Derek," Santa said and took out a medium size gift bag, pink color, of course. This time, Santa gave the bag to Meredith to let her show Derek's present to Morgan.

Meredith giggled as her fingertips came in contact with the soft blanket; pink as well as Derek liked to spoil Morgan. Meredith unfolded it and spread it over her knees, noticing three white bunnies designed on it.

"Look, Morgan," she said, showing the blanket to Morgan, "Bunnies."

Morgan curiously looked at the blanket and giggled, leaning towards it to grab it. Meredith laughed and put the blanket over Morgan's legs. Morgan laughed and slapped the bunnies, entertaining herself with whatever her brain was telling her about the blanket.

"Show her what I asked for her, Santa," Izzie beamed impatiently.

Santa rolled his eyes at her, "Derek still has some things for baby Morgan," he said and looked through his sack. "Derek also asked me to bring you a toy car. We couldn't make a pink car, because boys are those who usually wish for cars and boys don't like pink."

"Save it, Santa. She doesn't even care about the car," Cristina cut in.

Derek wasn't very pleased to see that Cristina was right. Morgan was still having fun with the bunnies from the blanket. "Show her the clothes," he told Santa.

"There's more?" Meredith frowned, jealous of the number of presents Derek got for Morgan comparing with hers.

Derek smirked proudly while Santa George showed Morgan the pajamas, dresses and bootees. She just glanced at each thing that Santa showed her, but she just loved her new blanket.

Santa also brought a musical box with carols from Izzie, which had Morgan's interest for a short moment only, and a big illustrated encyclopedia from Cristina- that seemed to keep Morgan's attention longer than a moment

"Now let's see what George asked for you," Santa said to Morgan. "I know you don't know George that well, but he is a very nice guy, who loves baby very much. You two could be really good friends."

"Stop praising yourself… Santa," Izzie muttered.

"Uncle George wanted me to bring you this…" he said and took out of the sack a swinging horse.

"How did you put that inside?" Meredith laughed.

"Don't underestimate Santa," Santa scolded her. "This was mine when I was little. I know she's just a baby, but she'll grow."

"Did you hear that, Morgan?" Derek cut in, sounding excitedly for the tape, but glaring at George. "Santa brought you a very special present from him. Now let's see what George asked Santa to bring you."

Santa George looked puzzled at him.

"Neither of you are good at acting," Cristina growled.

"We asked you if you wanted to play the role of Santa," Izzie retorted.

Izzie and Cristina seemed ready to start banter each other, Santa looked sweaty and Morgan didn't have any other interest besides pinching the bunnies, so Derek switched the camera off.

"I always wanted to sit on Santa's lap," Meredith beamed, taking a step forward in the same time.

"It's a little too late," Derek grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, glaring at Santa's thrilled eyes.

"You don't have to record me sitting on Santa's lap," she answered, thinking that was what Derek meant to say.

Derek smiled and leaned to her ear, whispering, "I could keep the Santa costume and put it on later if you want me to satisfy you a fantasy."

Meredith giggled and pushed him away. "Thank you for coming, Santa," she said and took Morgan in her arms, hurrying to pick up the blanket when it slipped off Morgan's legs and Morgan started whimpering after it.

"Wait, Santa!" Izzie said quickly and hurried over the coffee table, taking the plate with cookies. "We have to keep the tradition," she said, offering him the plate to serve himself with a cookie.

Santa ate it all at once and nodded, "The tradition also mentions something about milk."

Izzie nervously smiled at him, taking him by his arm, "You can have later in kitchen," she whispered. "Now you have to go, Santa. I am sure you still have other continents to visit."

"Actually this is the last continent," Santa laughed, adding an original 'ho-ho' in the end. "The rest of the world is already celebrating the Christmas."

"You're so smart," Izzie rolled her eyes.

Derek shook his head, slightly disappointed with their performance, "You two should improve your acting skills if you want me to call you for the next Christmases. In just a few years we won't be able to fool her with the fake Santa."

Nobody but Meredith paid enough attention to Derek's words. He would be there with her and Morgan for the next Christmas at least. She smiled and instinctively she wrapped her hands around his arm, leaning against his side. With natural gesture, he put his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek while he was still lecturing Santa George and Izzie.

"Leave them alone, Derek," Meredith cut in. "I really enjoyed their gesture and I do appreciate what you did," she told them with a grateful smile.

"Anytime," Izzie assured and Santa George approved with a nod.

"Santa needs to go now before his brain fries," Santa chuckled.

"Just one more second," Derek stopped him and hurried to take the camera back. "One picture with Mommy, Morgan and Santa," he smiled. "And not on Santa's lap," he warned them. "Go stand by the tree."

Meredith wanted to take the blanket and put it away as she thought Morgan would look pretty in her dress, but Morgan didn't care about the way she looked or about the picture either; she whined and asked to be left with her bunnies.

"She loves my present," Derek laughed, looking beyond proud with that fact. Meredith just rolled her eyes and went to take the picture.

Santa and Meredith held Morgan between them and Derek called her name, making her look up and caught her looking at the camera.

"Now I want one too," Derek beamed and threw the camera to Izzie, hurrying to go next to Meredith.

"This looks like a Hallmark moment," Cristina made a grimace, shaking her head.

"I know," Meredith agreed with the same grimace, but unable to stop from smiling.

"Why don't you take a photo too," Derek suggested. "You could sit on Santa's lap."

"I don't think so," Cristina made a defensive step back. "Santa is too old to hold me."

"You're skinny," Meredith earned a glare from Cristina as she took Derek's side. "He won't even feel you."

Cristina could not believe what they were doing; Meredith and Izzie were pushing her from behind, towards Santa – who was trying to be convinced by Derek to sit down.

"What if she will torture me to death?" Santa asked him fearfully.

"She just looks scary, but she wouldn't act scary as well," Derek reassured him. "Besides, I promised I would let you scrub in to a big surgery."

"What do I get in return?" Cristina asked.

"An unforgettable memory," Derek smirked, showing him the camera.

Cristina was finally sitting on Santa's lap and Meredith put Morgan in Cristina's arms. "Now let me take this for a moment," she said, taking the blanket.

Morgan whined again and stretched her body and arms up to her mommy, to give her back her bunnies.

"Here, hold this," Cristina said, showing her Santa's beard.

His beard had somewhat fascinated her from the beginning, so Morgan's attention was held by it for a short moment, enough though to catch her in the photo while pulling on his beard.

"We should release Santa now," Meredith laughed as she took her daughter back.

Santa smiled gratefully at her, standing up with Derek's help.

"Why don't we go upstairs and try on some of the dresses she received from Santa?" Izzie suggested.

"She's only 5-month old," Cristina pointed out. "That's torture for her."

Izzie rolled her eyes and looked expectedly at Meredith. Meredith's hobby wasn't just buying clothes for her baby girl; she also loved to see her dressed in them, so Izzie's suggestion looked interesting and entertaining.

"I'll stay clean up a little bit around here," Derek said, frowning at the empty boxes and ripped papers. "Say bye to Santa, Morgan."

This time, Morgan didn't look up. She had her blanket again, covering her, so she was more preoccupied with it than with what was going on around her.

"Goodbye, Baby Morgan," Santa smiled, taking one of her hands. In response, Morgan pulled her hand back and threw it in him. "Be a good girl if you want me to pay you another visit next year."

Derek stayed in living room cleaning, Santa George went to take off the costume in kitchen and Cristina went in Meredith's office, looking for more of Ellis' books, while Meredith and Izzie went upstairs.

With Derek's camera, they took pictures of Morgan in each dress she received from Santa. At first, though she wasn't looking willing of trying the clothes on, Morgan stayed quiet and let the two women have fun with her; but as the fun seemed not to end anytime soon, Morgan started fussing and whining.

"What do you think about this?" Meredith smirked, showing to Izzie a mini Santa costume made of a dress, jacket and hat.

"That's adorable," Izzie beamed, taking the clothes from Meredith. "Why didn't you dress her with this for Santa?"

"Because I didn't know Santa would come," Meredith pointed out, glaring.

Izzie smiled innocently. "I am sorry if we went over board," she said. "Derek came up with the idea and we found it cute. Why don't you get married?" out of nowhere she asked Meredith.

Meredith stared at her speechless.

"Maybe you don't love him just yet, but I am sure you liked him a lot," Izzie continued. "He's a good father for Morgan."

"I never liked to talk about my private life," Meredith answered quietly, while she started stripping the baby again.

Izzie didn't insist with that. She helped Meredith dress Morgan in the Santa costume, both making faces and talking to Morgan, in hope of calming her down. Morgan was determined not to let them play with her like that any longer and started screaming and tossing.

"Do you think it's too tight?" Meredith asked Izzie, confused.

"I think she just had enough of you two," Derek scolded, walking over to the bed and picking Morgan into his arms. "What are they doing to us?" he started talking to Morgan, smiling at her cute image in that costume. "Why don't you come with Derek? We have to turn the lights on in tree and then, Derek will tell you a Christmas story. Doesn't this sound more exciting than spending time with two crazy ladies?" he said, already walking out of the room.

"Hey!" Meredith shouted after him. "Derek, bring her back. She's mine."

"No worry, Baby," he said to Morgan. "Derek won't let you go back to them."

"Derek," Meredith scolded, coming out on the hall after him.

"Why is a half-naked Santa in my kitchen?"

Everyone stopped and stirred at that question.

"Mom?" Meredith asked confused, looking at Derek and running to the stairs from where the voice had come.

Everyone saw Ellis standing at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at them with a hand on her hip, and Cristina standing a few steps behind her, smirking at them.

Meredith froze as she saw her mother; she managed to turn though and glare at Derek as she whispered, "That's a nice surprise."

Derek gave her a puzzled look, shrugging, "I have nothing to do with this. I swear," he whispered back.

"Bringing a stripper in your house, especially when your daughter is here, is the last thing I expected from you, Meredith!" Ellis scolded nervously.

"He's not a stripper," everyone answered in the same time, making Ellis stir.

"That's George, our colleague," Meredith tried to explain. "He came and played Santa's role," she said. "for Morgan," she added quickly.

"Why is he naked in the kitchen then? Is he perverse?" Ellis wouldn't let go off her glare.

"Why did you send him in the kitchen?" Meredith turned to Izzie, scolding.

"The presents weren't easy to carry on the stairs," she explained. "And the bathroom you have downstairs barely has enough space for him to pee."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Meredith asked her mother.

Ellis shook her head disapprovingly, "This seemed to have become your way of greeting me each time I come in Seattle. It's Christmas Eve and I came to see my granddaughter," she gave an answer Meredith hadn't really expected.

Though Ellis turned into a different person each time she saw Morgan and Meredith knew she cared about her, she hadn't believed that her mother would trade the ER in the Christmas Eve in Seattle with her family.

"Stay here," Ellis said thoughtfully and turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Shouldn't we go after her? She's going back to George," Izzie whispered to Meredith, a little scared of Ellis uptight attitude.

Meredith continued to stare speechless towards the direction her mother had taken off; she started to believe that she had had too many surprises for one evening. "There better not be more," she muttered, looking at Derek and walking past him.

"More of what?" Derek followed her, confused, carrying Morgan.

His question remained without an answer as Meredith stepped in the hall, wanting to go to kitchen. Her mother came from outside and walked towards the kitchen again, saying as she walked past Meredith, "You should wait in living room."

Meredith's eyes locked on the two wrapped boxes Ellis was carrying. She wasn't the only one who saw the boxes that looked like Christmas presents and Derek smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading their way back in the living room.

"That's a nice surprise," he stated, smiling at her.

Still very surprised, Meredith managed to nod once and trailed along with him back in the room. Ellis joined them right away, smiling as she came to Derek with her arms opened to take her granddaughter.

Morgan didn't like her so much and being still cranky after the fun her mommy and Izzie had had with clothes fitting, she wasn't willing to leave Derek's peaceful arms.

None said anything against it and Derek let Ellis take Morgan. The baby started whimpering and fussing, stretching her tiny body to go back to him.

"Look at you," Ellis giggled, talking to Morgan. Hearing her grandmother's giggle, Morgan stopped from whimpering and stared at her. "You've grown so much," Ellis continued talking to her as she walked over to the couch and sat down.

As her mommy and Derek didn't follow her, Morgan started fussing again. "You don't remember me, do you?" Ellis questioned and took the hat off, running her fingers through Morgan's blonde curls. "She has a fitting suit. And a Christmas tree," Ellis noticed, looking at the big Christmas tree.

As Meredith didn't seem to have any answer to that, Derek cut in, "It's Christmas," he smiled and came to sit down in the couch next to her.

Ellis just glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "Relax. If I spared Santa's life, then that means that I didn't come to execute anyone," she said to Meredith and her friends, who were standing aside.

Cristina was the first one who hurried to answer to her assurance. She walked over to the couch and sat down at Ellis' other side, holding out her hand, "Dr. Grey, is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Cristina Yang. A big…" she stopped as Ellis turned and looked at her with a cold glare.

"You're not a Christmas person, are you?" she asked her.

Cristina slowly pulled her hand back and nodded. "I am Jewish," she answered.

Ellis lifted a brow as she carefully looked at her, analyzing, "Don't you have a family?"

"I have friends," Cristina came with the answer promptly.

Ellis nodded and drew her attention over her granddaughter's again, this time, finding her staring at her with curious eyes.

Meredith saw discreet smile on her mother's face as she put her hat back on. She didn't say anything and just sat down on the couch side, next to Derek.

A very shy and hesitant Santa Claus walked in this time, pleadingly looking at Meredith. Meredith felt helpless as she looked at her mother and asked, "Why is Santa back?"

"He forgot to give Morgan my presents. Can you believe that?" Ellis spoke to Morgan, shifting her so that she would face Santa. She looked at Morgan, watching her reaction, and lifted her brows, surprised. "Is she frowning at him?" she asked.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Derek couldn't resist from bragging a little, like a proud parent. "She even answers when she hears her name."

Ellis looked at him, in disbelief.

"Try it," Derek insisted.

"Is that so, Morgan?" Ellis asked her granddaughter. Recognizing her name, called by an unfamiliar voice, Morgan lifted her head and looked at Ellis. "She does," Ellis muttered under breath, her discreet smile becoming even wider.

Meredith wasn't interested in Morgan's interaction with Santa. She already knew how that would go. She was more curious to see her baby girl interacting with her grandmother. Meredith smiled when she saw Ellis' arms tightening around Morgan's tiny body. She wasn't jealous; she just could explain why Ellis was so loving to Morgan. As far as she knew, Ellis didn't like babies.

"I am not asking you to 'ho-ho-ho' for me," Ellis let out a groan as she saw Santa George not daring to come closer. "Just give her the presents and leave. If you brought a Santa for your daughter, you could have at least found someone who could really play Santa."

"He didn't a wonderful work," Derek cut in again. "You're just a very intimidating person," he admitted with a chuckle.

Meredith held her breath as she looked at Derek in horror, expecting any minute now to see Derek slapped by her mother.

Surprisingly, Ellis smiled and then she looked at Santa, "You're not here for me."

Santa cleared his throat and adjusted his voice to an old man's voice. He knelt in front of Ellis, putting the sack aside and taking out the first gift. "My mistake, Baby Morgan," he said, handing the present to Ellis.

As Ellis didn't show any intention of taking it, Derek took it and started opening it. There was a big glossy book and very colored.

"An illustration book," Derek said, showing it to Morgan.

"I bought her one too," Cristina cut in, smiling proudly at Ellis. "Just that mine is like an encyclopedia and has some human anatomy in it as well."

"Shouldn't she first learn what's around her?" Ellis asked, not impressed with Cristina's present. "This is designed for toddlers, to teach them what a cat, a house or a teacher is."

Derek opened the second present and was surprised to find the same book. He looked curiously at Ellis and then at Meredith – who was just as clueless as he was.

Ellis rolled her eyes and took the book from Derek, "You are supposed to know how to read," she said, opening the book and showing him the blank pictures."

"It's a coloring book," he noticed.

"This is not for now, but it was worth buying it," she said. "That was all for now. Say 'bye' to Santa," Ellis said, taking Morgan's hand and waving it for Santa.

Santa George didn't say anything. He stood up, more than ready to go and get out of the Santa role.

"This time take him upstairs," Meredith whispered to Izzie.

Now that she had given her presents to her granddaughter, Ellis started asking Meredith more about Morgan and as they started talking, Meredith was surprised how comfortable she felt. She felt as comfortable as she was each time she talked to Claudia.

Cristina had some attempts of diverting the discussion from Morgan to medicine, especially when Ellis started telling Meredith about the teeth growing Morgan would have to deal with, but Ellis didn't go further than necessary.

"Shouldn't she go to sleep now?" Ellis asked later, seeing Morgan rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"I think she should," Meredith said and took Morgan from her mother.

"We should leave too," Izzie stated. "Some of us have to go back to hospital tonight."

Meredith nodded and walked her friends to the door, thanking them for the nice surprise they had prepared for Morgan. Everyone left, so Meredith went back in living room; Ellis was talking on the phone and Derek was cleaning the glasses and plates from the table. He winked at her with a smile and walked past her as he went to take the dishes in kitchen.

"He lives here now?" Ellis asked after he left, shutting her mobile phone.

Meredith nodded once, "Kind of."

"What do you mean kind of?" Ellis asked.

Meredith took a deep breath and said, "He lives here now."

Ellis shook her head disapprovingly, "You're not on your own anymore, so you should know what you want. Is it ok if I take the last room as the last time?" she asked, not waiting for Meredith to answer to her scold, also knowing she wouldn't answer.

"Sure," Meredith answered quietly.

"I will see you in the morning then," she said.

"When are you…" Meredith turned and wanted to ask her about her departure, but she stopped as she realized it wasn't a proper question to ask her mother, especially when she was so nice with Morgan.

"Probably tomorrow at noon," Ellis answered, without turning and looking at Meredith anymore.

"I am sorry," Meredith muttered as a wave of guilt swept through her.

"I know," Ellis answered in a soft voice and disappeared around the corner.

Left alone in the middle of the room with her sleepy baby, Meredith stayed there and slowly started rocking her. She found herself smiling; this time, there was more behind that smile and not just her baby. Meredith looked up and watched the Christmas tree, rewinding the whole evening in her head as she watched it; her friends, Santa, her mother, Derek's love for Morgan. Rewinding all that and watching the Christmas tree, Meredith had that warm feeling inside her chest; the same warm, unfamiliar feeling she had when she arrived home earlier that evening.

She stirred when the room went dark and the next second the lights went on in the Christmas tree. She smiled at Derek, who came beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"So this is Christmas," she smiled.

Derek kissed her cheek and led her to the couch. "This is Christmas," he smiled at her, leaning in and softly kissing her on the lips. "I want to hold her," he said, already sliding his hands under Morgan.

"No," Meredith shook her head and half-turned her back on him. "You'd have to hold us both if you want to hold her."

Derek chuckled and pulled her into his arms; one hand caressed her arm, the other one held Morgan's head.

"Your mom was a nice surprise," he said.

Meredith was silent for a brief moment, "She was. Your surprise was… surprising too," she said, smiling at him.

"Except for all the drama you made over the Christmas tree," he pointed out.

"I apologized for that," she rolled her eyes.

"And you've been forgiven," he chuckled.

"Then stop bringing that up," she scowled at him.

"I promise," he held up a hand. "Now talking about your mother…"

"Why?" she stopped him, frowning.

"Why what?"

"Why talking about my mother?" she asked.

"Because she's your family and you seem to have some family issues," he said.

"She likes Morgan more than she liked me when I had Morgan's age. I am not jealous. I am quite pleased actually," Meredith answered.

"You don't know that for sure," Derek said.

"What is that?" she asked, confused.

"You don't know for sure that she loves Morgan more than she loved you," he said. He held up his finger when she wanted to retort. "You won't know for sure until you don't talk to her about your relationship."

Meredith sighed and looked away, "Everything is complicated."

"Only because you want to see all the dark and twisty things," he pointed out. "There are more bright and shiny things in your life than you want to see. With this, I rest my case."

Resting her head on his shoulder and watching Morgan's peaceful dream, Meredith asked, "Do you want to move in with us?"

No sound came for Derek, so Meredith looked up and saw him thoughtful.

"I think I kind of moved in with you already," he concluded and Meredith burst into a quiet laughter. "Oh. You had a point with that question," he chuckled. Meredith nodded, smiling. "Does it bother you?" he asked her, using a more serious tone now.

Meredith looked into his eyes, smiling, and then she shook her head, "I am sure you have a home here in Seattle. Don't you have a dog that waits for you at home?"

"No," he laughed.

"A cat?"

"No,"

"A hamster?"

"No," Derek kept laughing. "I have a house. Sort of. I think I just ended up living in your house."

"Will you show it to me one day?" she asked.

Derek thought about that for a second. "I will show it to you. Tomorrow. Let's go upstairs now."

"No. I want to stay a little a longer," Meredith insisted, unwilling of letting go of their moment.

Derek wasn't entirely willing of letting go of it either. He nodded and smiled as he saw the blanket he had bought for Morgan. He took it and spread it over them.

It didn't take long for Meredith to drift to sleep, but Derek stayed there, spoiling himself with their presence in his arms. Only when he started feeling his eyes heavy of sleep, he woke up Meredith and took Morgan upstairs.


	24. Chapter 24

Derek slowly started waking up the next morning. He found himself glued to Meredith's body as he held an arm around her, having his nose tickled by her hair. He nuzzled through it and closed back his eyes, wanting to breathe in her floral scent. It felt good being there with her, having her into his arms; it felt good their daily routine.

Derek wanted to freeze forever moments like this one or like the one they had had the previous evening on the couch. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that and noticing the gray light outside, Derek knew he should get up and go check on Morgan, before coming back and joining Meredith in bed. Half-heartedly he kissed Meredith, who moaned softly but kept sleeping soundly, and slowly got out of bed.

Derek knew they had a guest – or sort of a guest- this time, so he pulled a bathrobe on him, just in case. Rubbing his face and trailing along the hall, Derek walked in Morgan's room. As no sound was coming from Morgan's crib, Derek quietly walked over there and the panic washed over for a brief second as he found the place empty, not being used to find the crib empty, especially when Meredith was still sleeping.

Remembering the great bond between grandmother and granddaughter, Derek thought Ellis might have taken her. Indeed, as he walked out on the hall again and paid more attention, Derek could hear voices that sounded like whispers. He tied his bathrobe around him and headed for the stairwell, going downstairs. He stopped before showing in the kitchen doorway as he heard an unfamiliar laughter. Derek leaned against the wall and listened, now and then peaking inside. Ellis was talking to Morgan.

"How about this brown bird?" Ellis asked and Morgan giggled and slapped the picture. "Ok. We like that bird," Ellis laughed. "Let's see…" she said, turning a few pages, "How about the big elephant?" she asked Morgan and the baby slapped the picture and giggled, making Ellis laugh again. "How about this mouse?" Ellis asked then. This time, Morgan looked at the picture and then up at her grandma, staring with curious eyes. "We don't like the mouse," Ellis concluded with a giggle. "How about this white dog?" she asked her granddaughter, showing her the picture. Morgan squealed and slapped the picture. "I'll take that you like the dog the most," Ellis laughed.

Behind the wall, Derek was laughing quietly as well. Ellis didn't look like a person who could laugh, so he took her actual bright mood as a Christmas miracle. Derek walked in as if he had just come from upstairs and was unpleasantly surprised to see Ellis not looking comfortable with her smiling face.

"Good morning," Derek smiled with a polite smile as he walked over to the table, where Morgan and Ellis were.

"Good morning," Ellis said back, not sound as cheerful as earlier but not as cold and bitter as in the evening either.

"Did she cry?" Derek asked, looking at Morgan, a little worried that she might have cried and neither he nor Meredith heard her.

"No," Ellis answered. "I woke earlier and I found her awake when I went and checked on her. She was playing with her blanket.

Derek sighed with relief and nodded, smirking down at Morgan still proud of the great Christmas present he had bought for her. He went to the coffee machine and poured himself some coffee. "I noticed she rarely cries in the morning. Claudia says the same thing."

"She's growing," Ellis said and ran her fingers through Morgan's delicate hair. "You will have to be very careful with her when she will start standing up on her feet. She seems very active."

"I know," Derek said with a heavy sigh, as if that was a serious worry. "She already rolls over and soon she'll start crawling." As he turned back to the table, Derek stopped for a brief moment and watched how Ellis pressed her lips against Morgan's head, Derek guessing there was a kiss as well. "Did she eat?" he asked, noticing the milk bottle still full.

"She didn't want to," she answered. "So I thought we should check on our Christmas presents," she said, already smiling again as she pointed to a picture. "This is a cat. A white cat."

Morgan looked up at her and stared, with the same curious eyes as before. Ellis laughed, not as comfortable as earlier though.

"What do you think of Mrs. Allen?" Ellis asked them, looking straight into his eyes. "Everyone seemed pleased with her."

"We are," Derek nodded. "She's very good with Morgan and the most important thing is that Morgan likes her."

"You live here, don't you?" she asked him, straight.

"I do," Derek answered in the same manner.

"You're a good friend of Dr. Sloan," she said, looking at him with a scrutinizing stare.

"He's my best friend," he answered without any trouble.

"So…"

"No," Derek didn't let her say it. "I stayed two months apart from them after I found out about Morgan's father because I believed that was the right thing to do."

"And it wasn't?" she asked him, surprisingly not bitter, but matter-of-factly.

"No," he shook his head. "Because I understood that Mark wouldn't go to them and because I understood that I had stayed with them before from different reasons. I didn't know who they were when I first met them."

"What if he changes his mind and wants to be Morgan's father?" she asked.

Derek didn't mind her little interrogation. "I don't know. That's up to Meredith."

"I said, what if he wants to be Morgan's father, not Meredith's man," she replied.

Derek was taken off guard a little. "Meredith has Morgan's full custody now as Mark gave up on his parental rights."

"Those are just papers," she pointed out.

"No," Derek shook his head, disagreeing. "Those are legal papers and unless Meredith wants him to have any right over Morgan, he doesn't have many chances to get them back."

"How about your friendship with him? He's your best friend," Ellis continued.

"He lives in Manhattan and I live in Seattle now. I don't know about my friendship with him. We haven't figured that out yet."

"So you wouldn't step back if he changes his mind," she concluded.

"That depends," Derek answered. He finally sat down at the table and took Morgan from Ellis when she started whimpering and asking to go to him.

Ellis pushed the bottle towards him, "It's still warm enough."

Derek looked at her before he took the bottle and gave it to Morgan. Morgan relaxed in Derek's arms as she started eating.

"If he changes his mind when Morgan will go to college, then no. I won't step back," Derek answered, smiling down at Morgan.

"What if he changes his mind tomorrow?" Ellis insisted.

"He won't," Derek answered, very convinced.

"Ok then, how will your visits to New York and your meetings with him will go? Because I am sure you two will meet from time to time," she said.

"I don't know," Derek answered frankly. "It will be awkward. Honestly I think I want Mark to meet Morgan as soon as possible. I want us to deal with a situation like you say. Only then we will know how everything will be like and feel like."

As Derek was saying that, Ellis was looking at Morgan and she seemed not to be listening to him anymore. But she did hear what he said. "So you're not here because you feel like… you have to… replace your best friend."

Derek smiled. "I am here because I met Meredith laboring in her car; it was evening and raining and because I love babies."

Ellis nodded her head and muttered absent-mindedly, "Babies are lovely."

Derek heard her words and remembered what Meredith had told him about her mother, "Meredith thinks you love Morgan more than you loved her when she was little."

Ellis looked at him with an attempt of smile, "Is she jealous?"

"No," Derek answered, a little confused with her reaction. "Absolutely not. She just… wonders why."

"Meredith doesn't remember how it was when she was a baby. Morgan won't remember either what's happening to her right now. Meredith was 2 when her father started drinking and wasting my money and when everything ended. Meredith's money too. I had to throw him out and he didn't insist in visiting Meredith. I wouldn't have allowed it anyway. Meredith cried a lot after him and I couldn't bear seeing her like that. Then I choose to spend as much time as possible at the hospital. People do mistakes, big mistakes. Like Sloan is doing right now. He will regret it deeply one day; maybe when he will be very old and ready to die, I don't know, but he will regret the moment he signed the papers."

Listening to what Ellis was saying about Mark, Derek started feeling guilty.

"You should do what you think is right to do for you, Meredith and Morgan. Morgan can't decide for herself, only Meredith, you and Sloan can." Saying that, Ellis stood and walked over to the refrigerator, "Can you cook?" she asked him, checking what was inside.

Still dazzled by Ellis' surprising confession and lecture, Derek nodded before he could find his voice again, "Yes."

"You should teach Meredith too," she said, taking out the butter and shutting the door. "She can't cook and Morgan can't starve or eat junk food when you're not around."

"Are you talking about my cooking skills?" Meredith sleepily asked as she walked inside.

"Your mom says I should give you some lessons," Derek smirked at her.

Meredith was a little confused with the bright mood that hovered all around the kitchen. Derek took her hand and winked at her, reassuring her that everything was great there.

"Dr. Grey, would you mind spending a few hours with Morgan this morning?" Derek asked Ellis and Meredith questioningly looked at him. He just winked and looked back at Ellis.

"I thought you had the day off today," Ellis scowled at Meredith.

"I do," Meredith answered, clueless, unable to understand why Derek asked that.

"She has and I have the morning off. I want to take Meredith somewhere for a little while," Derek explained.

"I can stay with Morgan," Ellis agreed.

Meredith kept staring at Derek, but Derek didn't say anything. He fed Morgan and gave her to Ellis after she finished eating, so that he and Meredith could have breakfast as well.

Ellis received a call that morning from Richard Webber, asking her to come to the hospital for a consult. In that moment, Derek's plans changed a little.

Meredith was with Morgan in her room, changing her diaper and her pajamas when Derek came in. "Why don't you go and dress Morgan for the road?" he suggested.

She looked back at him, confused. "Road?! Are we still going where you wanted us to go?"

"Absolutely," Derek smirked. "I wanted to take the opportunity that your mom was here and take you out on a date. Apparently, we can date only if Morgan comes too," he chuckled, walking over to the table and making faces at Morgan, who wasn't in such a bright mood anymore. "Put some warm clothes on her. She hasn't been outside much during the winter," he said.

"Are we going somewhere in Alaska?" Meredith asked him, insisting on finding more about his plan.

His smile grew bigger as he leaned in and kissed her. "I'll go get ready too."

Though Morgan was still half naked, Meredith was too curious in finding out what Derek was up to. "Meredith," Derek laughed from the doorway, as he saw her staring after him with stupefaction. "You're not a baby. You have a baby. I am taking you to see the place where I live."

"So you do have a house," she giggled.

Derek smiled, shaking his head, "In a short while Morgan will be more mature than you."

Meredith gasped and grabbed the first thing she had around, Morgan's clothes, and threw them after Derek- who ran out laughing.

In that second, Morgan started screaming, holding her hands tightly rolled into fists. She was either angry because her mother threw her clothes or because she was getting cold after saying naked for so long.

Meredith quickly turned to her, talking, "Whose side are you on?"

Morgan stopped from screaming, but she didn't stop from crying; not until Meredith dressed her.

Derek took Morgan and safely strapped her in the car seat, in the back of his car, while Meredith climbed on the passenger side and waited for him.

"So," Meredith wanted to say something; or rather, to find out something. She continued to look out her window and looked like it wasn't her who made that sound.

Without leaving the road out of his sight, Derek asked, "So… what so?"

Meredith took a deep breath, making herself some courage, and turned facing Derek.

Derek glanced at her, amused. "Are you planning on proposing me and you don't know how?" he teased her with a chuckle.

Meredith managed a smile. "It's about my mom," she said. "You and her, this morning… you looked ok."

Derek knew what she was trying to find out, but he laughed, amused of her stammer. "We were ok," he said. "We had a little talk."

Meredith stared at him, expecting.

"About Morgan at first, then about me, Mark and then about you," Derek continued.

"You talked to my mother about Mark?" Meredith reacted, a little too loud and disturbing Morgan's play with her toy. "Sorry, baby," she looked back and touched Morgan, comforting her. "What did you talk about?" she asked Derek, lowering her voice.

"She wanted to find out more about me. Nothing historical happened, I promise," Derek laughed.

Meredith was in a complete haze after his nonsense explanation, "So you're friends with Ellis now."

Derek seemed to mediate over that for a moment and then he nodded, "We're not best friends yet, but we are friends. You should talk to her, Meredith. Seriously now." He glanced at her with a serious look. "Actually, you must talk to her. You two don't communicate at all and that's why you have this cold relationship."

"You seem to have communicated to her," Meredith pointed out, suggesting he should tell her whatever he knew.

Derek knew where she was heading, so he just smiled and shook his head. He was sure that Ellis didn't mean telling him about Meredith's father and that wasn't his place on telling it further to Meredith either. "It's simple the talk you need to have," he encouraged her.

Meredith sighed heavily and rested her head against the window, watching the gray road. "Maybe it is," she muttered under her breath. "Only if I knew where to start from."

Derek discreetly glanced at her, with a sympathetic smile. "It's Christmas, so let's not get worried or depressed because of anything," he said, squeezing her hand.

Meredith looked at him and nodded in agreement. She let out another sigh before she straightened up in her seat, re-adjusting her seatbelt and looking back at Morgan, who smiled when she saw her mother. Looking out the window again and noticing all those trees on each side of the road, Meredith had the impression that they were out of town, though there were still a few houses. The landscape she had in front of her eyes looked wonderful and then she saw the snowflakes falling over the windshield.

"It's snowing," she managed to breathe out, amazed of the beauty of the landscape, now completed by the snowflakes. "Do you live in another state?" she asked him, giggling.

Derek chuckled as he looked at her and shook his head, "I live 20 minutes away from the hospital, just that I live in the opposite way from you. We should get there in just a few minutes," he explained.

"She's so calm," Meredith said softly, smiling back at Morgan. "The last time I drove with her and held in the backseats, she screamed all the way from home to hospital. I had to hold an arm outstretched to her to calm her down a little bit. And no, she wasn't missing your presence in the car," she added laughing, when Derek looked like he was going to say that.

"I wasn't going to say that," he laughed.

"No really," she smiled skeptically.

"I wasn't," he said. "You should have taken this car. Look how calm she is. She has a special connection with the backseats."

"Oh Derek," Meredith whimpered. "Don't start again. I am seriously starting to suspect that your brain could be a mystery to the medicine."

Derek looked through the rearview mirror at Morgan and said, "Don't listen to her, Morgan. We're sure of what we know."

"With you around, no university will accept her," Meredith stated, rolling her eyes.

Derek looked in the rearview mirror again, talking to Morgan, "Out of 6, 1 university accepted me," he wanted to reassure her.

"Did you applied to 6 universities and just one accepted you?" Meredith asked him with disbelief.

"I am sure you sent application to one and you were just very lucky to be accepted there," he teased her.

"Let me disagree," she smirked at him. "How about 3 out of 4? And probably it was the forth too, but I never received the letter from them so the post office must have lost it."

"Mine were top universities in the States," Derek bragged.

"Mine were top universities in the States and Europe," she smirked with satisfaction.

"Did you attend all 3 of them?" he asked.

"No,"

"Then you attended one just like I did. So the score is even," he stated.

"You're just jealous," Meredith giggled.

"I am not," he frowned and this way, proving Meredith was right.

"Don't be," she giggled and leaned to him, resting on his arm. "I am sure that at least one university accepted me only because they recognized my mother's last name."

Derek was pleasantly surprised with her attempt of comforting him. He took one hand off the steering wheel and stroked her cheek.

Maybe she felt ignored or maybe she just started feeling uncomfortable in her car seat, but Morgan started crying and threw her toy down.

"What were you saying about her connection with the backseats?" Meredith laughed.

Derek laughed as well and answered, "She's just telling us that we arrived to destination."

Meredith looked out the window, expecting to see a big house, as she had imagined Derek's house was. There was nothing but land and trees. She looked puzzled at the landscape and thought they would have to walk a little to his house. Both got out the car and Derek helped Meredith take Morgan from her seat. As she was in her mother's arms and Meredith kissed her, the baby stopped from crying. Meredith pulled the jacket's hood over Morgan's hat and having her face half-covered with the scarf, only her eyes were visible.

"Which way?" Meredith asked Derek.

Derek came by her side and pointed ahead. "There."

Meredith followed the direction and saw a trailer. "What's that trailer doing there?" she laughed.

"I live here. Or I used to live there," he smirked at her.

"Sure," Meredith laughed. "But it looks like someone lives there. It even has a porch," she said.

"It's my trailer," Derek stated. Meredith turned and looked at him with disbelief. "I wasn't accepted to all six universities, but I was still smart enough to come to Seattle and buy this beautiful piece of land."

"No really, this is yours? Do you lived here?" she asked him, still suspecting he was making fun of her.

"Come see the inside," he just smiled and put a hand on her back, leading their way to the trailer.

As they started walking towards it, the snowflakes became bigger and started falling faster.

"Look, Morgan," Meredith said to Morgan- who had her face buried in Meredith's shoulder. "Your first snow."

"Maybe she should be able to see it too," Derek laughed at how much Meredith was protecting Morgan from the cold air.

Meredith giggled and turned Morgan, laying her into her arms, so that she could see the sky. Morgan closed her eyes when a snowflake landed on her face, opening them again and closing them back, giggling.

"Let's go inside," Derek laughed. "I have to turn the heat on. It's been a while since I last was here and it must be freezing inside."

Derek unlocked the door and let Meredith walk inside first. As she made the first step, Meredith stopped in the doorway, scanning the inside- which didn't look as strait as she thought it would.

"You have everything in here," she said, stepping from the doorway to let Derek inside. "Derek lives in a trailer," she said to Morgan, giggling.

Morgan didn't show any interest for the new place she was in at that moment; she was more preoccupied with gloves – which had started annoying her and probably sweat her hands.

"I have absolutely everything I need," Derek stated. He walked into his small, almost inexistent, bedroom and put Morgan's bag on the bed.

"But why did you buy this? Do you like living in trailers?" she asked him, still amazed of it.

"No," Derek chuckled. "I admit, I prefer the comfort of a house. I accidentally drove past this land shortly after I arrived in Seattle and saw it was for sell. There are a couple of things you haven't found out about me yet."

"Obviously," Meredith muttered as she walked over to the bed and sat down, still carefully watching the surrounding. "We're here and we don't have to leave right away, so this could be the perfect time to tell me," she smiled at him, while she took Morgan's scarf off and the gloves.

"I love nature," Derek started saying, but Meredith stopped him, laughing mockingly.

"I noticed," she said. "That's why you buy natural, old trees for Christmas."

"Oh. That," he laughed. "Yeah, well besides that, I love hiking and fishing. There's a lake not very far from here. I used to go there each time I had some time off."

"We kind of held you from your hobby," she said, smiling at Morgan.

"That's ok, because I found a new hobby," he said and came to sit down with them. Morgan held her short arms out for him, willing to go to him. Derek took her and took her hat off too, brushing her curls with the tip of his fingers. "Morgan is my new hobby."

Meredith just smiled and had no doubt of that.

"I used to work a lot so it was no inconvenience in living into a trailer," he said. "I was planning to build a house here, but that wasn't an emergency." He stopped and looked at Meredith with an excited smile as if an idea came into his head. "Would you move in with me in my new house?"

Meredith was taken off guard by his question. She stared at him and couldn't get a word out.

Derek smiled reassuringly. "I can't build the house over night. I don't even have the plans for it."

"Derek," she muttered, looking into his eyes.

Derek waited for her to say whatever she had on your mind but as she didn't seem to want to continue, he asked, "What is it?"

Meredith felt chocking with the words and her mind blocked. "I… I think I'd like some hot chocolate."

Derek wasn't sure if that's exactly what she had intended to say the first time, but he nodded as a hot chocolate seemed like a good idea in that moment. Because the air was heating up inside, Meredith decided it was safe taking some clothes off Morgan and as the baby only had one toy with her, she lay her down on her favorite blanket and let her entertain herself with the bunnies. In the meantime, Derek prepared the chocolate and started telling her more about him and about his family, only briefly mentioning his ex-wife Addison.

Meredith made a good impression about Derek's sisters from his tells and was impressed with the strong connection he had with them and his entire family, couldn't helping wondering how that must feel like. They stayed and talked, Derek more, Meredith less about their childhood, while Morgan fell asleep. Neither of them noticed how long they had been talking about until they heard a whistle passed past the trailer and just then they noticed that all the windows were covered with snow.

"What's happening outside?" Meredith asked, alarmed, while both stood up and went to the door.

As Derek opened the door, a strong wind invaded the trailer along with the snow. He pushed the door closed and looked at Meredith, shocked. "That's a snow storm."

"I can see that," Meredith was as shocked as he was. "What are we going to do? I only have a bottle for Morgan."

"I am sure it will calm down soon," Derek wanted to reassure her, though he wasn't very sure of that either. "They didn't announce any storm."

"I wanted to give her apple today," Meredith muttered, glaring out the window.

Derek looked at her with a surprised expression. "Is that your main concern?" he chuckled. "I have some apples here."

Derek walked over to the refrigerator and felt a little embarrassed when he opened it and Meredith giggled, noticing it almost empty. "I have apples," he grumbled and took out a bag.

As he put it on the table and took a few apples out, he found them mouldy.

"You've kind of neglected the household," Meredith giggled.

Derek laughed and nodded, agreeing. "But I took care of your household," he pointed out. "More hot chocolate?" he offered.

Meredith nodded and he filled the cup with steamy chocolate, both of them settling in the couch. "You seem like a man who wishes his children to be boys."

"What makes you think that?" he asked her, confused.

"You like all these boyish things like fishing and hiking," she shrugged. "Am I wrong?"

"You're very wrong," he laughed. "I wouldn't mind having 5 or 6 girls. Out of 5 or 6, I am sure there will be at least one girl who would like to join her Daddy for a camp trip."

"You spent and you keep spending a lot of time in the company of girls. Some people might say you're… you know… gay," she giggled.

Derek laughed, shaking his head, "You know I had someone suspecting me of this once? But that was before I went to college. I like having girl friends. Is that a bad thing?"

Meredith shrugged. "Did you used to play with dolls when you were little?"

"That depends," he answered. "Mark and I liked kidnapping my sisters' dolls and blackmailing them for their secret supply of chocolate."

"You're lying," she laughed.

"I am not,"

"Was it working all the time?" she asked.

"No, but each time they were refusing to buy them back, we were giving them only the dolls' heads," he smirked at her with a mischievous laughter.

"Bad Derek," Meredith scolded, laughing as well. "Stay away from my daughter's dolls."

"I am over it now," Derek reassured her. "I don't even like chocolate candies anymore."

Meredith sipped from her chocolate watching the bed, where Morgan was peacefully sleeping between pillows and covered by her favorite blanket. Meredith felt content with herself in that moment, sharing that moment with Derek; she nestled beside him and put her head on his shoulder, right away receiving caresses from him.

The phone startled both of them and Morgan as well. As it was Meredith's phone that rang, Derek went to lie down next to Morgan to help her go back to sleep. In the meantime, Meredith quickly found her phone and flipped it open.

"Meredith Grey," she said, quietly talking.

"Meredith?" Meredith recognized her mother's voice.

"Mom?" Meredith asked, confused.

"Where are you? I thought I would find you home," Ellis said. "I have to leave soon and I wanted to spend some time with Morgan."

"We're at Derek's… house," Meredith answered. "And it looks like it's a snow storm outside."

"The weather doesn't look great at the moment," she agreed. "They said it should calm down. You'd better stay there and not try to drive with the baby on this storm."

Meredith rolled at her eyes as that was already an obvious thing. "I won't," she answered dryly.

"Does it bother you that I give you advices?" Ellis asked reproachfully.

"No, mom," Meredith sighed. "That was exactly what I was going to do."

Meredith heard her mother's sigh then and then her saying, "Take care of yourself and the baby. I am not sure if I can stay and wait for you to come home."

"We will," Meredith answered softly. "Take care of yourself too," she said.

"I will," Ellis answered. "Goodbye, Meredith."

"Bye, mom," Meredith replied and listened for a few seconds more the dial tone, after her mother hung up. Derek was right; she should talk to her mother.

"Is something wrong?" Derek asked in whisper, coming back to Meredith.

"No. My mom wanted to see Morgan before she left, but we're kind of stuck here at the moment," she said.

Derek smiled and stroked her cheek. "I just hope I won't be paged to hospital," he muttered. He wrapped his arm around her and both lie down in the couch. "She's a good grandmother."

"She is," Meredith muttered, thoughtful.

Playing with his fingers through her hair, Derek slowly made Meredith fell asleep. He could feel his eyelids heavy as well, but he didn't want to go to sleep right away, wanting to listen to their calm breathings for a little longer.

Morgan was their alarm clock, hours later, when she woke up and found herself in that unfamiliar place. Both, Meredith and Derek jumped up as soon as she let out her first loud whimper.

"Mommy is here," Meredith quickly hurried to the bed, taking her baby. Morgan kept crying once she was into her mother's arms, sign that she was starving.

Derek heated up her bottle and Meredith fed her, Morgan calming down and regaining her good mood.

"The snow seems to have stopped," Derek noticed, looking out the window. "I should receive a page from the hospital any minute now," he muttered with a sigh. Looking away from the window and watching Meredith and Morgan, he smiled and came to sit with them. "Would she like a snow fight?" he asked Meredith.

"No," Meredith frowned, scowling.

"I was just kidding," Derek chuckled. In that moment, his pager went on. "See?" he looked knowingly at her. "I'll go make a call to the hospital," he said and stood up, leaving the bedroom area.

Meredith watched him leaving, sighing with regret as she looked down at her baby. She would have liked a snow fight with Derek. She would have liked any other moment with him that day, just to be in his company.

"Let's take the girls home first," he said, coming back in the bedroom.

They waited for Morgan to finish with her meal and then they started preparing her for leaving. Derek drove them back home and didn't have enough time but handing Morgan to Meredith in the doorway. He gave Morgan a kiss and then he cupped Meredith's face between his cold hands, kissing her.

Both of them sighed and pulled away reluctantly.

"I'll see you later," he smiled at her, making a step back outside on the porch, ready to leave.

"Derek," Meredith stopped him.

Derek turned and waited for her to say whatever she had to say. As he waited and looked better into her eyes, Derek saw them sparkling, as well as her entire face- brightened by a big smile.

"I love you," she said, barely comprehensible.

Those words were comprehensible enough for Derek. He walked back to her and pulled her into his arms, almost forgetting that Morgan could have been crushed between them. They kissed, softly and lovingly, both of them lingering in the moment.

"I love you too," he whispered, smiling at her. "Hold these words and repeat them later," he chuckled.

Meredith giggled like a sheepish teenager as she watched him heading to his car. Her cheeks were burning so bad that she couldn't even feel the cold air from outside. Morgan did feel it and she didn't like it, whimpering and making her mother aware of the fact that she was too little to stay outside in the cold for too long.

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**Warm Happy Holidays, Everyone!**

Dana


	25. Chapter 25

Morgan laughed delightfully as she grabbed a handful of purée from her bowl and threw it in Meredith's face. She froze a little, but her cheeky smile was still playing on her lips as she waited for her Mommy's reaction. Meredith froze as well, trying to stay patient.

"I think she's full," Claudia stated and Meredith turned and glared at her as she heard the amusement in her voice.

Meredith looked back at Morgan and took the bowl from her. As she did that, Morgan's forehead crumpled with wrinkles and she started crying, holding her tiny hands out to get her bowl back. "Baby, food is not for playing," Meredith tried to explain as she had done it many times before and some of the times Morgan seemed to understand her.

Baby Morgan had started the day very cheerfully, Derek finding her chewing her blanket and smiling at him when he bent over her crib. Though she was still in a good mood, Morgan didn't want to understand her mother's lectures this time. She kept crying and asking for her bowl.

Claudia came beside her high chair and took the bowl from Meredith, giving it back to Morgan. Morgan calmed down in that moment and her entire attention focused on it as she stuffed her hand inside and smudged her fingers with food. She took the fingers to her mouth and started eating them, smiling at Claudia as she said to her, "We'll take the bowl if you're no longer hungry."

Part of the food she had grabbed ended up into her mouth but also on her cheeks. She leaned forward and served herself with more while Meredith tried to feed her with the spoon. Morgan let her mother feed her with it, but her attention was still over the bowl, carefully filling her fist with purée. After she swallowed what Meredith had given her, Morgan also ate from her hand and playfully slapped Claudia with the rest of the food, laughing delightfully at the impact and when Meredith discreetly started laughing as well.

"And she's no longer hungry," Claudia stated, wiping her cheek.

Morgan whimpered again when Claudia took the bowl, but this time neither of them was going to let her play with the food.

"That was enough, Morgan," Meredith said as she grabbed a rag and started cleaned Morgan's face.

Derek stormed inside in that moment, dressed and ready to leave to the hospital. He walked straight to Morgan and cupping her tiny head with one hand, he leaned forward and kissed her. "Look at you," he laughed her sticky cheeks. "You look and smell like an apple pie."

"She loves having her hands in the food," Meredith stated with an overwrought sigh.

"That's not such a tragedy," Derek laughed. "She's nearly 6 month old and she already has an idea of how to feed herself. You should feel proud of it."

"I feel proud that I have food in my hair," she groaned. She took a lock of her hair and looked with disgust at the apple purée that had started drying already in her hair.

Derek took that lock of hair and smelled it, smirking at her. "At least you're using natural products," he chuckled teasingly. "Your moods don't coincide all the time," he stated with a knowing look towards her and towards Morgan.

"Weren't you hurrying somewhere?" she asked him, slightly annoyed.

"I am hurrying now," Derek laughed and quickly kissed her on the cheek before he kissed Morgan again. "Have a nice day, Claudia," he smiled at her and turned heading to the door. "I'll see you later, Mer!" he called from the hallway.

Hurrying out the door, Derek didn't have time to notice the taxi leaving their driveway and the person walking towards their house. Only when he bumped against that person, Derek noticed Ellis. He stared at her for a moment, not surprised of her unexpected visit, but surprised of her so-soon visit, as only a few weeks had passed since her last visit on Christmas Eve.

"Dr. Shepherd," Ellis grumbled, shaking the snow his shoe had imprinted on hers.

"Dr. Grey, I am sorry," he said apologetically.

"Is Meredith still home?" she asked, glaring at him.

Derek nodded. "She's in kitchen with Morgan and Claudia."

"Have a nice day, Dr. Shepherd," Ellis said simply and walked past him, towards the house, not expecting a reply from him.

Derek trailed towards his car and stopped, looking back at Ellis. Just then he noticed the big paper bag she was carrying. 'Another present for Morgan', he thought, smiling. Derek didn't have time to contemplate over that as he had been called in to the hospital and that was also the day when he wanted to present his article for a medical journal. He got into his car and drove away in a hurry.

Claudia was washing the dishes, Meredith was looking for a bottle of water in the refrigerator and Morgan was picking up the leftovers from her bib when Ellis walked into the kitchen. Morgan continued growing and at nearly 6-month old she had started prattling a little, among the other things she had learned doing, like serving herself with food. When Morgan felt her grandmother's presence, she looked up and stopped prattling.

That drew Meredith's attention as well, who gasped when she turned and saw Ellis. "Mom," she said, surprised.

"Derek let me in," Ellis said, smiling at Morgan.

"What are you doing here?" Meredith asked her and quickly changed it as she knew how much that question annoyed her mother. "I wasn't expected to see you so soon," she stated.

Ellis put the bag on the table and took off her coat. "I am flying to Paris for a conference and I wanted to make a stopover in Seattle to give Morgan something," Ellis answered. She smiled politely when she saw Claudia and walked over to her, holding her hand out. "Ellis Grey," she introduced herself.

"Claudia Allen," Claudia shook her head. "It's an honor to meet you."

It wasn't in her character to ignore respectable people like Claudia, but Derek knew it and Meredith had suspected something. Ellis Grey was secretly but truly and madly in love with her granddaughter. She left the courtesies for later as nothing and none was more important than Morgan in that moment.

Morgan was very familiar with the faces she used to see everyday and had a friendly smile for everyone, but she also had a short memory, and though it hadn't been long since Ellis' last visit, she didn't seem to remember Ellis. She whimpered once when Ellis put her hands around her waist and picked her up from the high chair, her body becoming tense once she was in her arms.

"Did we have apples for breakfast?" Ellis asked her granddaughter in a smooth-spoken voice as she smelled her face.

Morgan whimpered and put both hands on Ellis' face, pulling back to be able to stare better at her. Ellis let her doing her thing and waited until the stare was over and Morgan smiled at her.

"Morgan," Meredith decided to try and feel more comfortable with her mother's new attitude and take part to the reunion.

Morgan turned and looked at her mother.

"That's grandma," Meredith said, pointing to Ellis.

Morgan looked back at Ellis, staring for a moment only before she giggled and greeted her grandma, playfully slapping her face with both hands.

"And we're sticky like candy," Ellis smiled, taking the baby's hands and holding them in a light grip. "How is she doing on solids?" she asked, none in particular.

Meredith looked at Claudia, who motioned for her to answer as she turned and continued washing the dishes.

"She's doing well. She had a little diarrhea the first week, but it wasn't anything serious so we kept giving her solids," Meredith explained. "She loves anything that contains carrots."

Ellis had taken a seat down at the table with Morgan on her lap and just nodded at Meredith's answer. "Has she tried meat yet?" she asked, running her fingers through Morgan's short curls.

"Not yet," Meredith answered. "We're planning on introducing it next week."

The silence fell awkwardly over everyone as Ellis didn't insist in finding out more about Morgan's nutritional plan or healthy status. She knew her granddaughter received the best care possible, so any topic over this was pointless.

She had seen the change, Derek had seen the change too and Morgan was now calmly sitting in Ellis' arms, playing with her fingers, so Meredith decided to take a step forward in her relationship with her mother and probably, to have a talk to her as Derek had suggested to. "So..." she said, clearing her throat. "Another present?" she asked, looking at the bag.

"Oh," Meredith's question made her realize she had forgotten about it. Ellis took a medium size puppy, fawn and with long ears and blue eyes, out of the bag and showed it to Morgan.

"You're spoiling her," Meredith giggled discreetly.

Ellis looked at her daughter with a frown, disagreeing. "Nothing from what's considered educational and entertaining is pampered."

What Meredith had gotten to see yet was the writing the puppy had on its paws and its stomach.

At first, Ellis showed the toy to her granddaughter and Morgan analyzed it carefully before she leaned to grab it.

"Squeeze its paw," Ellis said and, taking Morgan's hand, they squeezed together its paws. In that moment, the puppy started saying something and Morgan startled and started crying.

Meredith was very surprised and smiled at her mother's helpless look when Morgan started crying. "The voice scared her," she explained, coming over to them. Morgan turned and clung on her mommy, asking to be taken away from the talking creature.

"I didn't think about that," Ellis mused, watching the toy- which in the meantime had ended its speech.

"That's ok, Morgan," Meredith walked around the kitchen, trying to make Morgan stop from crying. "That's just a friendly puppy," she explained.

Being further from the scary creature, Morgan looked carefully around her before she decided it was safe to stop from crying.

"Wanna bet she'll be afraid of clowns?" Claudia giggled, rubbing gently Morgan's back. Meredith shuttered at the word 'clown'. "See?" Claudia laughed knowingly.

Ellis was muffling her laughter behind her hand, but not good enough as Meredith heard her and looked at her curiously. "Besides clowns, Meredith was terrified of grass when she was very little."

"Afraid of grass?" Meredith and Claudia asked in the same time.

"That's right," Ellis nodded. "She stood up on her feet herself when she was 11-month old and she was doing it smoothly when she was indoors, but she was screaming until she was turning blue each time we were taking her outside and wanted to put her down from the stroller."

Meredith was staring at her, dazzled. First of all, she didn't know that a person could be afraid of grass, and secondly, she was surprised to see the type of memories her mother was still holding about her. She wanted to know her mother better and understand her better. She wanted to have the same relationship with her mother as Morgan. They needed to talk, she finally decided.

"Claudia, can you go upstairs and prepare some clothes for Morgan and then the bathtub?" she asked her.

"Sure," Claudia nodded. "I can give her the bath," she said and, without understanding the purpose behind Meredith's request, she wanted to take Morgan.

"I'll bring her upstairs," Meredith stated and glanced to her mother, so Claudia understood and nodded, leaving them alone.

Left alone, Meredith came to the table and sat down beside her mother. Morgan whimpered and frowned at the puppy, so Ellis put it back into the bag.

"She'll love it later," Meredith giggled and kissed the top of Morgan's head. "What is educational about it?" she asked curiously. "She doesn't need toys or books to learn about hugs and tickles," she said, as those were the words written on the puppy. "You can't learn about them. They come to you naturally."

"Don't say anything more, please," Ellis sighed and Meredith could sense a little embarrassment in her voice.

"I won't," she giggled and Ellis giggled as well.

Ellis was a very intelligent person and she knew Meredith very well as they were a lot alike, so she knew what Meredith was planning. She held her arms out to take Morgan and Meredith placed her onto her lap. Morgan leaned against her grandmother's chest and smiled at Meredith.

"Babies are meant to refresh you and keep you young and sometimes alive," Ellis stated quietly, breathing the baby's scent in. "I am old and... tired," she added, still quiet. She looked up at Meredith and smiled. "Keep doing it this way no matter how difficult it gets," she said to her- speaking without meaning words for Meredith yet. "It was difficult... hard to see you crying after your father, especially after how much you had cried when me and him argued. I didn't stop loving you and carrying about you, I just forgot how to show it," she said, looking straight into her daughter's tearing eyes. She blinked slowly and held back her own tears. "I can't turn the time back now. Now you have a daughter and I have a granddaughter," she went quiet for a moment as she looked down at the table. Ellis looked up at her daughter again and said, "I am not good at words."

"Me neither," Meredith muttered.

Both watched the baby as she sucked her thumb and played with the hem of her dress, staying quiet and uncomfortable. Morgan noticed the silence and the stares, so she left the hem and looked curiously up at her mother. Meredith smiled and tucked the hair behind her ear.

"I performed an appendectomy by myself last week," Meredith stated, trying to break the awkwardness between her and Ellis.

"I know," Ellis showed a discreet smile. "I heard it was quite successful," she added. "Richard also tells me about your teaching skills. He's very impressed."

Meredith giggled embarrassingly. "I am sure he had great expectations from me even before I started working as intern at New York."

"You made a good choice," Ellis stated. "Seattle Grace is one of the finest teaching hospitals in Washington."

From there, their talk continued smoothly and pleasantly about medicine and some of the memories Ellis had about Seattle Grace. One question Meredith still had; one she had never dared to ask. "Is dad still alive?" she asked her mother, suddenly ending the medicine topic.

Ellis, who was playing with Morgan's hair, remained frozen, staring at Meredith. She quickly came out of the shock and looked back down at her granddaughter, saying, "I think we would have heard if he had passed away."

"Does he..." Meredith wanted to ask, but couldn't find the strength.

"He lives in Seattle," Ellis guessed her question. "You're old enough, with children of your own, so you can decide if you want to go talk to him or not."

"I don't think so," she replied quickly.

Ellis didn't have the courage to look up and meet her daughter's pain -which was plain obvious in her voice- but she did glance once. "I heard he has..." she had started saying, but stopped there.

Meredith looked up at her mother when she paused and understood what Ellis wanted to say. He had another family now. Meredith sighed discreetly and fought against the tears as she took Morgan from Ellis. Morgan couldn't read the sadness or she didn't want her mother to keep it, so she laughed and put her head down on her mommy's shoulder, breathing warmly against her neck. Meredith blamed her father for not coming back to her each time she thought about him. Right now, she wanted to hate him again, but this time Morgan didn't let her.

-----------

"I haven't seen you all day," Derek whispered in her ear as he caught up with Meredith at the nurses' station.

Meredith dropped the chart behind the desk and then she turned and smiled at him. "That's because of the two surgeries I've scrubbed in so far," she smiled smugly.

"I have a strong competition now," he sighed, faking the disappointment. "Everyone wants you and your interns."

Meredith smirked at him, "You're not good at competitions," she said teasingly.

Derek frowned. "No more Mister Nice from now on."

"No more Dr. McDreamy?" Meredith laughed.

Derek shook his head, "I am no longer Dr. McDreamy or Dr. Nice and Dreamy, whatever you were calling me. I live with you, so I am expecting favors."

"You live with me and I let you give Morgan the bath; consider that as favor," she laughed.

Derek laughed too. "Let's negotiate while we're having lunch," he smiled and showed her the paper bag he was holding.

"It's almost dinner time," she said, checking her watch.

"Let me bribe you with a snack then," Derek opened the bag and a sweet flavor and vanilla and cinnamon filled the air around them, seducing Meredith instantly. "There's also a coffee joining these goodies," he added, smirking.

Meredith just smiled at him and walked ahead, but going slowly so that he would catch up with her and lead their way to the place he had in mind for their snack. Derek knew Meredith didn't like being seen in his office in other matter than the professional one and as the cafeteria was too far and their time too short, he pointed to an empty gurney. They hopped up and Derek put the bad onto his lap, opening it and giving Meredith her cup of coffee before he served the puff pastries.

"I met your mom this morning," he said, hinting about more information.

Meredith rolled her eyes at his curiosity, but she still went on telling him, as he was one of her few friends and as he also knew about her relationship with her mother. "She brought a present for Morgan. A cute puppy that laughs when you squeeze its paws and says something when you give it a hug. Morgan hates it."

"It was a nice gesture though," he said.

"It was," she agreed.

"Of course, no one gives Morgan better presents than Derek," he added, smirking.

"Of course," Meredith giggled.

Derek smiled when he saw her more relaxed. "She couldn't stay for too long without visiting her granddaughter," he added guardedly, checking for Meredith's reaction.

Meredith didn't look disturbed by his statement; she just looked a little thoughtful and nodded when he said that. "She might even want to move back to Seattle to be closer to her," she said.

"Did she tell you that?" he asked her, surprised.

"No," Meredith answered, looking at him. She shrugged her shoulders and sipped from her coffee. "We talked and... we had a short talk, but it was ... a good talk. She loves Morgan."

"Anyone can see that," he smiled at her.

Meredith nodded in agreement. "But I couldn't live with my mother again," she said. "She's nice when she visits, but she's not as nice when she lives with you and she becomes bossy and critic."

"Don't worry," Derek chuckled softly. "If that happens, then you and Morgan must move in with me."

Meredith stared at him in disbelief. "In a trailer," she muttered sarcastically.

"No," he laughed. "I'm thinking about building a house on my land."

That made more sense to Meredith. She smiled, embarrassed. "My dad lives in Seattle too and he has another family."

Derek felt the terrible pain in her voice as she said that. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She obeyed, needing his comfort.

"At least he's back on track now," Derek muttered absent-mindedly.

Meredith pulled back from his embraced and looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Derek was a little confused too and hoped that he hadn't said too much. "I mean... it's good that he solved his addiction to alcohol."

"What are you talking about?" Meredith frowned and Derek knew it; he had said too much. "What do you know about my father?" she demanded.

"Apparently a little more than you do," he muttered. Meredith was staring at him sternly, still waiting for an explanation. "That morning, before I took you and Morgan to my trailer, your mother and I had a talk and I told her you were a little confused with her behavior toward you and your daughter."

"You did not," Meredith muttered, glaring at him.

"I wanted to be helpful," he said defensively. "And I think I was," he pointed out.

"So my dad was an alcoholic?" she asked.

Derek didn't like being the one telling her that and he regretted he had brought it up. "That's what your mom said."

Meredith sighed and from that moment, she stopped talking about her parents. She ate one more pastry and sipped from her coffee, both staying silent for a few moments, until Meredith looked at Derek. "Do you think it is ok if I buy Morgan a puppy?" she asked.

"I think that's a good idea," he nodded.

Meredith sipped from her coffee again, thoughtful. "I always wanted a puppy."

"I had a miserable childhood with 2 cats that hated dogs and everyone voted for keeping the cats," Derek sighed.

Meredith giggled as she heard that. "You weren't such a good boy. After you killed your sisters' dolls, it was obvious that none would vote in your favor."

"I shouldn't have told you about the dolls," he grumbled.

Meredith giggled and kissed him on the cheek before she jumped off the gurney. "I need to see my post op patients and then I have charts to do. Thanks for the snack."

"You're welcome," he smiled and watched her leaving.

As Meredith was out of his sight, Derek drew his attention over the paper bag and looked at the people around him as he ate one more pastry. Between nurses, doctors and patients' relatives, Derek easily recognized one person. He laughed, not believing who had come to visit him.

"Mom," he beamed, greeting his mother with a strong hug.

Carolyn Shepherd hugged her son, happy to see him. As they pulled back from the hug, she gave a better look at him. "That was Meredith, I assume," she said, tilting her head towards the direction Meredith had headed to.

"You assume right," Derek chuckled.

"She's pretty," she said.

"She's amazing," Derek nodded. He put an arm around her shoulders and both started walking down the hall, towards Derek's office. "This is a very nice surprise."

"I hope it is," Carolyn laughed. "You found a new excuse for bailing this Christmas. The last time we let you alone because it was after the divorce, this time we decided not to stress you with our reunion again because you desperately wanted to be with Meredith and her daughter, but I couldn't wait another year to see if you would come to see us or not."

"I am glad you came," he smiled. "And to show you my gratitude, I will even pay for your airplane ticket."

Carolyn laughed, shaking her head. "I will be satisfied if I spend a little time with you and especially if I meet Meredith and Morgan. As you can see, I even chose a proper hour to show up. What hour are you and Meredith finishing today?"

"Well..." he let out a sigh. "Your timing is not quite perfect, because Meredith is on-call tonight, but you can get to know her better tomorrow. How long will you be staying here?" he asked his mother.

"One day only," she answered.

Derek looked disappointedly. "Why one day only? What's the rush?"

Carolyn shook her head, scowling. "It's great to see you in love again, but try not to forget your family. Your sister Kathleen is due to give birth this week."

Derek smiled apologetically. "I knew that," he lied.

"Sure," she chuckled knowingly. "Do you have a little time off now? Can we talk?" she asked.

Derek nodded, saying, "My office is not far."

Derek walked his mother into his office and both sat down in the couch, next to each other.

"Tell me how are you," she said, cradling his hands in hers.

"I am better than ever," he answered and the sparkle in his eyes confirmed that. "Meredith is the nicest and sweetest person and Morgan is..." he tried to find the words, but he couldn't.

"I see," Carolyn smiled.

Derek stood up and quickly walked to his desk and took one of the pictures he had on it, returning to his mother with it. "This is my favorite," he said. That was the photo with him, Morgan, Meredith and Santa.

"She's adorable indeed," Carolyn giggled.

"All the babies are adorable, but Morgan is... special," Derek beamed.

Carolyn smiled at him as she said, "You sound like a proud father."

Derek chuckled. "I guess I do, but you'll see why I say she's special. She has grown up a little since Christmas and her curls are longer now. She eats solids already, she's very active though she can't sit up by herself just yet, but the other day she started prattling and she already distinguishes our voices and she recognizes her name when someone says it. She even eats by herself," he added, smirking. "Not using the spoon, of course, but that's a progress."

"It is," Carolyn nodded and watched how Derek continued talking about Morgan.

"She was only a few weeks old when she started understanding us," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"I mean, each time you were telling her something or if Meredith and I had a disagreement, Morgan always had a feature to express her opinion about what we were talking. I know, that might be in our imagination only, but we like to believe she's special. You'll understand better when you meet her."

"Derek, what about Morgan's father?" Carolyn asked.

Derek was no longer smiling. "What about him?"

"Where is he? Do you know him? Will he come back to his daughter?" she asked.

"He won't come back," Derek stated, glaring.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

Derek hesitated. "He won't."

Carolyn sighed and put the photo aside, taking Derek's hand. "Just be careful, ok? As far as I can see, Morgan is your daughter and it will kill you if that man decides he wants to be father for Morgan," she said softly.

Derek looked down at their hands. "I am a little scared of that," he admitted. "But there's nothing I can do right now. I can't stay away from them. It's too late."

"But do you know anything about him?" she asked. "Do you know what kind of person he is?"

Derek knew Morgan's father as well as Carolyn knew him. "I do."

"Where is he now?" Carolyn insisted on finding more about Morgan's father.

Derek didn't argue, knowing that was her duty to worry. "He has his life in another state. He signed the custody papers and gave up on his parental rights."

"I see," she nodded.

"Don't judge Meredith for... for the circumstances she got pregnant with Morgan. She knows she made a mistake, but now she doesn't regret it," Derek stated.

"I won't," Carolyn agreed. "Before we divert to Morgan and Meredith again, tell me about your work. How is it going?"

"It's going great. I have a fine collaboration with Richard, the other doctors are talented and I am waiting for Richard to announce his retirement," he answered. "Meredith works here too."

"I think I saw that," Carolyn chuckled. "I see that I can't make you talk about something else besides Meredith and Morgan; Meredith looks younger than you."

"Let's not overreact. I am not that old and she's... not that old either," he said, frowning.

His mother laughed. "I was just saying. You look different from the last time I saw you," she noticed, carefully looking into his eyes, which looked brighter and full of life. "You look younger yourself."

"I feel great," Derek stated. "Having a baby wasn't on the top of my to-do list when I was married to Addison, but it hurt terribly when she told me she was pregnant and she wasn't going to keep it."

Carolyn smiled sympathetically and shook her head slowly. "Addison loves children. She wants to have children. I am very sure of this and that's why I think that baby wasn't yours and this was the reason why she didn't want to keep it."

Derek had thought about that too, but now it was too late for judgments or hatred. His marriage was over and his life restarted in Seattle.

"You thought about this too," Carolyn concluded.

Derek slowly nodded, smiling weakly. "That's part of the past. How is she?"

"Nancy says she's fine. She works a lot and her private practice is going very well," she answered. "I haven't seen her since the day you two signed the divorce papers. She gave me some calls on my birthday and Christmas, but those were short and too awkward. I read something interesting in the newspaper the other day," she said. "Are you considering a possible surgery to separate two adult co-joint twins?"

"That's right," Derek nodded. "We've made a medical team already and we've started working on a plan. We just need to find the right Plastic surgeon. We had an option, but he broke his arm in the meantime."

"You need a Plastic surgeon, you say," Carolyn's kind features turned into a deep glare. "I am glad you mentioned it. What is going on between you and Mark?" she demanded in stern voice. "He barely comes to see me and when that happens, he stays a few minutes only and leaves. Besides, when I start talking about you, he changes the subject."

Derek almost forgot he would have to find something to say to his mother about the cold relationship he had with Mark. He swallowed the lump he felt forming in his throat and tried to stay composed and not betrayed his lies. "We had some sort of disagreement," he said quietly. Carolyn was staring at him, waiting for more. "It's difficult to explain, mom."

"You're a brain surgeon, I am sure you can find a way to explain it. Besides, I am not that dull," she insisted.

Derek said the first thing that came in his mind at that moment, "We argued because I chose to get involved into a relationship with a single mom."

"You and Mark never argued over your relationships," she pointed out. "Unless he knows Meredith and he knows she might be wrong for you."

"He doesn't know Meredith," Derek retorted sharply, taking his mother by surprise with his reaction and also making her suspect something.

"You're lying to me," Carolyn stated calmly.

"Why do you need to know anyway?" Derek was far from calm at that point. "We did have a disagreement over my relationship with Meredith and then both of us were very busy with work and personal life, so we didn't get to talk too much. We're still friends."

"Ok. I am leaving you two alone. I just hope there's nothing serious behind this disagreement," Carolyn said.

Derek hated himself in that moment for lying his mother, "It's nothing. Just nonsense."

"You know better," Carolyn half-heartedly agreed to accept his explanation. "Why don't you call Mark for help to this surgery? You know he is one of the Plastic surgeons in the country," she suggested.

Derek had thought about that, but because of Meredith and Morgan, he avoided mentioning him to the Chief. Giving a second thought, maybe this would be the right time for Mark to meet his daughter and decide once for all if he wanted her back or not.

"I heard he's been busy lately," Derek lied. "I'll try and give him a call though."

"You should do that," his mother nodded. Her instinct was telling her that something serious was going on between her son and his best friend.

As Mark was out of the topic again, Derek felt more relaxed and happy again to see his mother. They talked a little bit more, about work, Meredith and especially Morgan. Derek had to leave his mother alone for a while as he received a page down in the ER. Carolyn agreed to go and wait for him in the main lobby.

----------------

The page he had received in the ER was from Meredith and it needed surgery, so both could scrub in. They were in the scrub room, washing their hands after the successful surgery.

"Mom is here," Derek decided to finally announce her.

"My mom?" Meredith asked him, confused, not thinking for a second that it could be Derek's mother.

"No. Mine," he said and looked at her, watching her reaction.

Meredith stared at him speechless. How could she forget he had a mother?

"Don't panic," Derek smiled encouragingly. "My mom is the nicest person in the whole wide world. She's even nicer than me," he chuckled, hoping she would taste his sense of humor.

Meredith forced a smile.

"I am done for today and then I am going out with her, but I want you to meet her first," he said. He dried his hands as he leaned against the sink, pleadingly looking at Meredith. "Just come with me and say hi. You don't have to say anything else."

Meredith sighed and washed the soap off her hands. She shut the water and grabbed a towel to dry her hands while she leaned against the sink too. "What did she say about Mark?"

"She didn't say much. She did notice the cold relationship between us though," Derek sighed. "I told her only half of truth about Morgan's father."

Meredith gave him a panicked look.

"She doesn't suspect Mark. I told her that Morgan's father had another life in another state and that he gave up on his parental rights," Derek explained.

"Didn't she ask you why you and Mark are no longer the best friends?" she asked him.

"She did and I said it was because of a disagreement we had over me being involved in a relationship with a single mom," he answered.

The scrub nurses were also leaving the operating room, coming out to scrub their hands, so Derek led Meredith outside. She took his hand and dragged him in a more private corner.

"I am feeling bad, Derek. I ruined your friendship with Mark and now you have to say lies to your mom to cover for me. That's not fair to you," she said quietly.

Derek smiled lovingly at her and brushed his hand against her soft cheek. "I am not sure yet if my friendship with Mark is over. We haven't seen and we haven't talked yet. I think we'll clear that out later when we'll meet. Don't feel bad because of me. That's not fair to you when I am more than happy to be with you and Morgan." He cupped her cheek and kissed her softly, stopping her attempt of protest.

Comforted by his kiss, Meredith rested her hands on his chest, enjoying his warm breath against her temple. "You say she's nice," she murmured.

Derek made a step back, smiling at her. "She's very nice," he promised and took her hand.

Carolyn was still in the main lobby, reading a magazine, when Derek and Meredith got there. She saw his son and stood up, greeting Meredith with a warm smile.

"Meredith," Carolyn said and gave Meredith a small hug.

"Mrs. Shepherd," Meredith smiled back.

"I was supposed to make the introductions," Derek chuckled and kissed his mother. "Isn't she lovely?" he asked.

"Who are you asking?" Carolyn laughed.

Derek laughed and pointed to both of them. "I am asking both of you."

"She is lovely," Carolyn nodded.

Embarrassed, Meredith giggled and discreetly elbowed Derek. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Shepherd. I asked Derek to tell me some bad things about you and not just the good ones. He couldn't find any."

"That's flattering," Carolyn laughed.

"I didn't know you were this cheesy," Derek laughed teasingly as he kissed Meredith.

"I can't compete with you," she giggled.

Meredith was surprised of how easy it felt knowing Derek's mother. A little fear she did have as she couldn't shake off her head the fact that Mark was somewhat part of Carolyn's family too. She didn't feel comfortable with that thought and that made her feel like a cheater.

"How long will you be in Seattle?" Meredith asked her. "I am afraid I have to work tonight, so I can't stay long."

"Yes. Derek told me. I will leave tomorrow evening as in a few days one of my daughters is about to give birth," Carolyn answered.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Derek said something about tones of nieces and nephews, but he didn't say the number was still growing," she giggled.

"Hey, I lost the count. But probably I should get used to having a pregnant sister all the time," Derek joked.

"Stop making fun of them, Derek. Procreation is the most sacred thing in the world," his mother scolded.

"She's right, Derek," Meredith took her side.

"Men will never understand this because they will never be able to experience it," Carolyn said to Meredith.

"Let me disagree," Derek cut in ready to explain that… "Nowadays…"

"I don't agree," his mother silenced him.

Meredith looked amused at the disagreement between mother and son, which despite that, they still looked like mother and son. She admired the relation Derek had with his mother.

"Now that we're speaking about children," Carolyn said, turning to Meredith. "Do you mind if I go and see your baby today?" she asked her. "Derek told me a lot of things about her and he showed me a photo of hers, so I am very curious to meet her too."

Meredith was a little surprised with Carolyn's question. The fact that she had asked the permission of seeing her daughter made Meredith like her even more. "Sure you can."

"That's great," she smiled. "Then I won't stress you more. I will have more time for that tomorrow," she said with a chuckle.

Meredith wasn't scared of that. She chuckled and nodded in agreement. "I should get back to work now."

"And I will go change the clothes," Derek said to his mother. "I will back in a few minutes."

"Ok. I will see you tomorrow, Meredith," she said.

Meredith just smiled and waved at her, while she left with Derek.

"I told you she was lovely," he smirked at her while waiting for the elevators.

Meredith smiled and nodded. "Call me if anything happens to Morgan."

Derek leaned to her and kissed her, "As always."

She frowned and made a step back. "It never happens anything to her," she pointed out.

Derek stared at her, almost in disbelief. "Would you prefer something to happen to her?" he asked her.

Just then she realized how her words had sounded. "No," she smiled embarrassed. "But I am almost sure that she has an ache or a problem and I have this feeling that you and Claudia hide it from me."

Derek just smiled. His elevator just got there, so he gave her a quick kiss and stepped into the elevator.


	26. Chapter 26

**N/A: Hi! I know it's been long since I last updated my fics, I've just had a really rough time; my dog died and then technology started bugging me. But I am back now and I hope nothing won't keep me away from my hobby anymore :) **

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When Derek and Carolyn arrived at Meredith's house, they were greeted by Claudia's laughter and a softer one, Morgan's.

"She woke up in a very good mood today," Derek chuckled as he helped his mother take off her jacket.

"Derek?" he heard Claudia calling from the living room.

"That's me!" Derek announced and led his mother into the living room.

Morgan was sitting down on the floor in Claudia's arms, with the illustrated books she had received for Christmas and some of her toys.

As she turned to look at Derek, Claudia saw the unknown woman. She stood up and as Morgan saw Derek she let out a squeal.

"Did she just squeal?" Derek looked confused at the two women.

"I think she did," Claudia laughed.

Derek took Morgan from Claudia and tossed her up in the air a few times, making her laugh harder. "Was that a squeal, Baby Morgan?" he asked her, cradling her into his arms.

Morgan smiled and hid her face in his chest.

Derek laughed at her, kissing her. "Claudia, this is my mother. Carolyn," he said, introducing his mother to Claudia.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Shepherd," Claudia politely shook her hand.

"Please call me Carolyn," Derek's mother smiled. "And this is Morgan," she said turning to the baby.

Recognizing her name, Morgan lifted her head and looked at the unknown person, whose voice she didn't know.

"Hey," Carolyn smiled at her. She wanted to take her hand, but as she got too close to her, Morgan whimpered and hid her face in Derek's chest again.

"She's shy," Derek excused her. "Didn't I tell you that?"

Carolyn chuckled and shook her head, "I think you forgot to mention that."

"She is shy. Or she just plays shy until she gets to know that person better," he explained. "Oh and she also stares. I think that's how she makes impression about people."

"I will be patient then," Carolyn agreed.

Derek lifted Morgan in his arms, so that she could sit upright and went to sit down in the couch. "Why were you laughing?" he asked Claudia.

"Honestly," Claudia started laughing again. "I was laughing of her laughter, but I am not sure what she found so funny. We were just watching over some pictures with animals and birds."

"See?" Derek looked at his mother. "She's special."

Claudia and Carolyn smiled at each other knowingly and as Carolyn sat down next to him, she patted him on leg. "I would be worried if I was you."

"We don't really know what happens in a baby's mind, although we were babies once too," Claudia admitted.

"Did she have dinner?" Derek asked Claudia.

"She did and surprisingly she stayed calm and let me feed her with the spoon," she said. "I think she sees how she stresses us with the mess and that's why she does it. But if you stay calm and ignore her habit, she stops."

"We're about to turn into a spoiled baby, aren't we?" Derek said to Morgan. As he looked down at her, Derek smiled and elbowed his mother. "See? She stares at you."

Carolyn smiled at Morgan, but her smile slowly started fading as she noticed how intense her blue eyes were staring. "That kind of intimidates you," she muttered.

"Doesn't it?" Derek chuckled, kissing Morgan.

Carolyn had to shake her head to be able to tear her eyes from Morgan. "But she's beautiful," she smiled at her Derek.

"She is," he nodded smugly.

"Morgan is Meredith's only child isn't she?" she asked Derek.

"That's right,"

"You should be careful then. I don't know Meredith, but I know you and you tend to spoil the children," his mother warned him knowingly.

"They are spoiling her," Claudia cut in. "But only by good means. Dinner is ready if you're hungry. I'll gather a little bit around here and then I'll leave if you don't need me today."

"We're good now. Thank you," Derek nodded.

Claudia was about to reply when, looking at Morgan, she saw her shyly trying to touch Carolyn's arm. She smiled and motioned for them to look at Morgan.

When she saw all the eyes on her, especially Carolyn's, Morgan quickly pulled back whimpering and hid her face in Derek's chest.

"That's ok. I don't bite," Carolyn said to her, laughing and trying to take her hand.

Morgan pulled her hand away and hid it as well.

Carolyn was now visibly worried. "Why doesn't she like me?"

Derek and Claudia chuckled knowingly. "Don't worry. She didn't like me either at first," Claudia wanted to reassure her. "I almost didn't get the job because she started crying when I took her in my arms."

"And Meredith was quite paranoid at that time," Derek added.

Soothed by Derek's loving caresses and not having all the eyes on her anymore, Baby Morgan had the courage to look up. She looked at Derek – who was cheerfully talking to Claudia and Carolyn about Claudia's first day as Nanny- , then she looked at her Nanny and then at Carolyn. Her stare stayed on the new face. This time, she leaned forward and her tiny finger touched Carolyn's arm with more courage. Morgan started slapping her and laughing, carefully looking for Carolyn's reaction.

Carolyn felt the light touch and saw Morgan's new friendly attitude. "Do you want to be friends now?" she asked her.

Derek took Morgan's hand and waved it saying in a baby voice, "How can we be friends when I don't know your name. This moron that holds me didn't make the introductions."

Carolyn laughed and nodded. "I came to meet you but I ended up by meeting your Nanny. I am Grandma Carolyn," she said, gently taking her hand and shaking it.

Morgan looked at her hand and then up at her before she decided to be friends and start laughing.

"Do you want to come and sit with me now?" Carolyn asked her, holding out her hands.

Derek put her onto his mother's lap and Morgan didn't complain. In the meantime, Claudia finished gathering Morgan's book and she was ready to leave.

"Will you be in town for a while?" she asked Carolyn.

"Only until tomorrow in the afternoon," Carolyn said.

"I'll see you tomorrow, I guess,"

Carolyn nodded. "Most probably I will be around."

"Ok. I am leaving now. Good night, Morgan," she said to the baby, waving at her.

While Derek walked Claudia to the door, Morgan stayed in living room with Carolyn, who was admiring her blonde curls. "You have blonde curls and blue eyes. You're a very pretty girl," she started talking to Morgan. "You might even look a little bit like Derek. He has curls just like you."

"Doesn't she?" Derek chuckled, overhearing his mother.

"Derek, what are you to her?" she asked her. "I mean, when you talk to her and when Meredith talks to her about you, what are you? Derek or Daddy?"

Derek didn't like the question as he knew he had an answer she wouldn't like. He just smiled and walked over to them, picking Morgan into his arms.

"Do you want to see her room?" he asked her, avoiding the answer.

Carolyn shook her head disapproving his answer, but she stood up, ready to follow him upstairs. "I brought her a present," she remembered and quickly turned to the couch, where her bag was. She fumbled through it and took out a plastic bag.

Out of the plastic bag, she took a knit-wear out. "I made it," she smiled, showing him a red pajama, with a rabbit design on the stomach.

"You knit?" Derek started laughing, surprised with the present.

"I've started a while ago," his mother nodded. "I made it with a rabbit as design because you told me so much about her favorite blanket. I only knit small things though. I also made her some bootees," she said, looking inside the bag and taking out a pair of red knitted bootees.

"Won't your other grandchildren be jealous?" Derek chuckled, taking the pajama.

"I made something for everyone," she answered. "Is she my granddaughter, Derek?"

"Mom," Derek gave her a pleading look.

"You know what I mean with this question," she said.

"I know," Derek sighed. He turned and slowly started walking out of the room, carrying Morgan in his arms and being followed by his mother. "You can sleep here tonight. Meredith won't mind," he said.

"Ok," Carolyn answered, but continued waiting for an answer.

"You should consider Morgan as your granddaughter," he said while they walked together in Morgan's room. "You introduced yourself as Grandma Carolyn," he pointed out.

Carolyn sighed, giving up. "Just be careful, ok?"

Derek kissed her and nodded. "Meredith and I are just building our relationship. We've grown a lot as couple lately."

"As long as you're not trying for Morgan," she said.

"It's not for Morgan. Only. It's true that I fell for the baby at first, but Meredith is beautiful, smart and strong despite of her childhood and despite of her life from the past years."

Carolyn didn't doubt that, feeling something in his voice as he said those words. It was the same tremble he had when he talked to her about Morgan. She just smiled and let Derek show her the room and some of Morgan's favorite things such as the blanket.

"Isn't a little bit too late for her to be awake at this hour?" Carolyn asked Derek after they had played with Morgan for a while.

"I think this has turned into a custom. She doesn't go to sleep until Meredith is home. The minute we got her ready for bed, she falls asleep," he answered, smiling while brushing Morgan's hair with his fingers. "We have some trouble when Meredith is on-call at night, because she refuses to go to sleep."

"You say she understands when you talk to her. Did you explain to her the situation and that her Mommy will be back in the morning?"

"I did, but she still cries," Derek sighed. Morgan let out a yawn and sleepily put her head on Derek's chest. "Time for bed, Morgan?" he asked her softly, rubbing circles on her back.

Morgan looked up at him and then at Carolyn and around her. She yawned again and looked at Derek with questioning eyes. Derek smiled lovingly at her, knowing that look. "Let's put the pajamas on and then we'll ask Grandma Carolyn to tell us a story."

"You just told her you're getting ready for bed. I don't see her complaining," she said, not understanding why Derek said he had trouble putting Morgan to sleep while Meredith wasn't home.

Derek smiled and motioned for her to watch him. As he walked over to the table where he and Meredith were changing Morgan's clothes and from the moment Derek put her down on it, Morgan started whimpering. At first, she whimpered, but when Derek put the pajamas next to her and he started undressing her, Morgan started crying from the top of her lungs.

"See?" Derek smiled at her mother. He started talking to the baby then, but his voice was hardly comprehensible. He changed her diaper and then her clothes and only when he took her into his arms, she started calming down a little bit.

"She has healthy lungs," Carolyn muttered, already deafened by Morgan's crying.

"I got used to it," Derek sighed and carried Morgan to her favorite spot, in the rocking chair. The rocking movements didn't help much as Morgan knew what he was trying to do.

"Maybe you should call Meredith and let Morgan hear her voice," Carolyn suggested.

Derek sighed and shook his head. "We tried this once, but she got frustrated because she couldn't see the person and kept crying."

"When Claudia first started as Nanny here?" she asked and Derek nodded. "That was a long time ago, Derek. Morgan has grown in the meantime and maybe now she will react differently."

"We could try," Derek agreed. He looked for his phone and called Meredith. He hurried to explain the situation to Meredith before she could freak out with reason and just then he put the phone on speaker so that Morgan could hear Meredith.

"Hey there, Morgan," Meredith said in the phone. "Can we hear me, sweetie? It's mommy."

Morgan stopped from crying and as she had done the first time, she looked around her.

"That's mommy talking to you on the phone," Derek said, showing her phone.

"Morgan?" Meredith asked again.

For the first time, Morgan noticed where her mother's voice was coming from. She looked confusedly at it and then at Derek.

"Mommy is talking to you. Do you want to talk to her?" Derek said.

"Mommy can't be there with you to put you to sleep, Morgan," Meredith started talking. "I will be there in the morning when you wake up. Now let Derek put you to bed, ok? It's late and little girls like you need to sleep at this hour."

Morgan was no longer crying. But at this point she had an obvious frown on her face. She kept watching the phone while her mother talked to her, until she started hitting it with her tiny fist.

Derek chuckled at her reaction. "I think she either doesn't like your new look or she doesn't like what you're saying to her. Say good night to mommy now, Morgan."

"Sleep well, baby. I will see you in the morning," Meredith said.

"Ok, I am going to try again. She looks… calmer now," Derek said, still worried because of the frown that Morgan was showing. "I will call you later, Mer."

"No," Meredith said quickly. "Let the connection on. I want to hear her and make sure she is calm now."

"Meredith," Derek sighed, smiling at his mother- who had stayed aside in all this time.

"Derek, I am not arguing with you over this," Meredith said sternly.

"Don't you have a life to save?" he asked her and right in that moment he heard her pager. "It sounds like you do," he chuckled.

Meredith groaned. "I'll call you later. Don't go to sleep."

"I won't. Mom is here and we're going to stay and talk for a little while. I hope you don't mind if she sleeps over," he asked.

"I don't mind. Call me back if she refuses to go to sleep," Meredith demanded.

"I will. Bye," Derek said and hung up.

"Don't call her back. I don't think she'll be able to focus on her job if she knows her baby is restless," Carolyn chuckled as she recognized the type of mom Meredith was.

"I won't," Derek laughed. "Besides, it looks like Morgan is calm now," he said, looking at Morgan, who was sleepily resting her head on his chest and sucking her thumb.

"I don't want to imagine how it will be when she will start having teeth growing," Carolyn stated.

"Me neither," Derek chuckled.

"Do you think you can handle her now?" she asked him.

Derek smiled smugly. "Mom, I have done this before."

Carolyn chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Do you want me to tell her a story?"

"No," Derek shook his head. "I don't think she needs other distraction right now."

"Ok," she nodded. "I'll go make something to eat."

"See what Claudia made for us. She is a great cook," he said.

Left alone with Morgan, Derek sat back down in the rocking chair and lay Morgan into his arms, gently cradling her. "See? You can go to sleep even if Mommy isn't home. I am not that scary. Actually, I think I am quite charming," he chuckled and leaned down, kissing her on the forehead. The conversation he had had with his mother about Morgan came back into his mind. "We're in a very complicated situation right now, Baby Morgan," he sighed and smiled down at her. Though sleepy, Morgan was curiously looking at him. "You know, I am sort of a father to you. This means that I do what Daddies usually do, but I don't care if you call me Daddy and Derek. I am sure you love me like a Daddy. Can I tell you a secret?" he whispered. "You already are Daddy's little girl. My little girl," he whispered against her forehead and kissed her.

As he looked at her, Derek saw her smiling at him. "And I keep telling everyone how smart you are," he chuckled. He started rocking her slowly and in a matter of seconds, Morgan was asleep. Derek kept rocking her, although he knew she wouldn't wake up again too soon. He watched her sleeping, smiling proudly at his little girl.

Carolyn Shepherd was an early and very active woman, so she didn't linger for too long in bed once she woke up. The light was dim outside, as she could see through the closed curtains. She pulled her robe on her and slipped in her slippers as she stood out of bed. The house was very quiet at that early hour, when she walked out of her room. Derek's bedroom door was half-open, same as Morgan's. Carolyn wondered what hour Derek needed to be up, but she assumed he was getting for work already.

She slowly walked in Morgan's room, wanting to check on her, and was surprised to hear her prattling and giggling in her crib. As she walked over to her crib and looked down, Carolyn was greeted with a smile from the baby. Morgan had one toe in her mouth, while she was holding her blanket with the other hand.

"Good morning, Morgan," Carolyn smiled, carefully picking her up from the crib. "Why are we so quiet? You didn't tell anyone you were up?" she started talking to her, pacing with her in the room.

Morgan let out a whimper and fixed her stare on Carolyn.

"Why are you staring at me again?" Carolyn asked, confused. "I thought we met already."

Morgan let another whimper out and looked down at her crib.

"You want back down? You're still sleepy?" she asked her, trying to understand what Morgan wanted to say.

Morgan looked at her and whimpered again. Then she looked back at her crib.

"I don't know," Carolyn admitted, defeated, and put her back down in her crib.

Morgan swung a little and reached for her blanket, taking it in her tiny fist and giggling at Carolyn.

"You wanted the blanket?" Carolyn laughed and picked her up again, this time wrapping the baby into the blanket. "You need to give me some time to get used to your language, ok?" she chuckled and gave Morgan a kiss. "You really are a sweet baby. And very pretty too. You have these beautiful eyes, just like your mommy's," she said, while picking up the pace again. Just then she spotted one of the photos Morgan had on one of the shelves. Carolyn took a photo of Morgan and Meredith and looked better at them. "You don't look much like your mother," she noticed and then she looked at Morgan. "Your puffy cheeks remind me of someone," she said thoughtful, trying to figure out who exactly Morgan reminded her of. "It must be one of my children," she concluded. "Babies look alike most of the times.

Morgan liked to stare but she didn't like to be stared at. She whimpered and hid her face in Carolyn's shoulder.

Carolyn smiled and gently patted her on the back.

"Let's see what Derek is doing, ok?" she gave Morgan a kiss and walked out of the room. Carolyn decided to check first if Derek was in his room. She knocked once and pushed the door open, peaking inside.

Derek was lying in the middle of the bed, sleeping deeply. His mother shook her head and smiled at Morgan. "What do you say about him? He was supposed to be up before you."

Morgan looked up at her and then she continued playing with her fingers.

As Carolyn didn't know what time Derek needed to be up and get ready for work, she walked inside, ready to wake him up herself. When she was about to touch him, Carolyn saw the alarm was still set on. Morgan bent in Carolyn's arms and whimpered as she tried to touch Derek. Though her whimper was loud, Derek didn't flinch. "Let's give him a few more minutes," Carolyn whispered to Morgan. "He must be exhausted."

Though she kept looking after Derek, Morgan didn't argue when Carolyn took her out of the room. "Let's see what we can give the baby to eat," Carolyn said. They had just reached down at the bottom of the stairs when Carolyn heard a key into the latch and immediately saw Claudia coming in. "Good morning, Claudia," Carolyn came greeting her. "You're very early."

Claudia smiled, pinching Morgan's cheek, and then she looked at Carolyn. "I woke up earlier than usual this morning, so I decided to come here. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well," Carolyn nodded. "I don't believe Morgan cried last night."

"Oh she's over that phase already," Claudia chuckled. She hung her jacket in the closet and rubbed her hands to warm them up. "She sleeps through the whole night. Meredith says she rarely wakes up and asks for something."

"I noticed she's very quiet too when she wakes up. For instance, I just found her in her crib, giggling and playing by herself," Carolyn said.

"She does that all the time," Claudia confirmed. "She only cries if she's hungry or wet, otherwise you wouldn't know if she's awake yet."

The two women went together in the kitchen and Claudia was surprised to see that Derek wasn't there. "Derek had to leave?" she asked, confused.

"He's still asleep," his mother said while she put Morgan in her highchair. "Stay here while we prepare the breakfast, ok?"

"I'll make a milk formula," Claudia said. "She likes eating solids now, but she needs to have some milk too."

Carolyn agreed. "And I will make the coffee for us and something to eat. Tell me please," she said, hesitating a little in front of the refrigerator. "How do Derek and Meredith get along? I mean, as couple?"

Claudia smiled and didn't mind being asked about them. "As far as I could see, they make a perfect couple; a perfect family, actually. I was surprised when I found out that Derek wasn't Morgan's biological father."

Carolyn hesitated again before she put the next question. She took the milk and some eggs out of the refrigerator first. "Do you know anything about Morgan's father?"

Claudia smiled apologetically and shook her head. "It's not my business, but if anyone asks me, I say Derek is her father." She could read some worry on Carolyn's features and she guessed the reason for it. "I don't think Meredith will ever go back to that man," she said quietly and glanced discreetly at Carolyn, checking how inappropriate her statement was. Carolyn was watching her, waiting more. Claudia took a deep breath to get more courage and looked at her. "I mean, I can see how much she loves him and how attached Morgan is to him. Even if that man comes and asks to meet his daughter, Morgan would stay in Meredith's custody and live with her and Derek. I think she already knows who her father is. Isn't that so, Morgan?" she asked Morgan.

Morgan frowned and let out a whimper, fussing in her chair.

"I don't thinks she's interested in hearing us talking about her Mommy's personal life," Carolyn chuckled. She looked at Claudia and smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

Claudia nodded once. "That's just how I see the things," she said.

While the women were cooking, Morgan started becoming more restless and at one point she started crying. She was hungry now, so no more Ms. Nice.

Claudia pulled a chair next to Morgan and checked the milk's temperature before she gave her the bottle. Morgan had calmed down when she saw Claudia coming to sit with her and looked confused at the bottle as if she was seeing it for the first time. She frowned and slapped it when Claudia brought it to her mouth and then she started crying again.

"Maybe she doesn't like the position," Carolyn suggested.

Claudia agreed with her and put the bottle aside, standing up to take Morgan from her chair. She placed her onto her lap and then she tried giving her the bottle again. Morgan refused firmly.

"Is there something wrong with the milk?" Claudia asked herself, unable to understand why Morgan was refusing the bottle. "Baby, you need to have some milk too. You'll get solids later, I promise."

Carolyn chuckled as she thought she might know what Morgan wanted. Derek had said she was special. "Maybe she expects to eat from her bowl. Maybe she wants to eat like a big girl now."

"You know, you're right," Claudia said and put Morgan back into her highchair. "I don't think they bought her a cup yet," she said, looking through the cupboard. She took out a small cup, the one she thought it was the most proper for a baby. She opened the bottle and poured some milk into the cup. "Let's see now," Claudia showed Morgan the cup. "Here's your milk."

Morgan looked with a frown at the cup and her lips stayed pressed together. Claudia didn't panic, thinking that once she had the cup against her lips, Morgan would open her mouth. Morgan stayed firm with her decision. She didn't know exactly what that strange object was, so she didn't trust it.

"Let me try," Carolyn said and took the cup from Claudia. "Here, baby. Aren't you hungry? We have milk in here," she let the cup lower so that Morgan could look inside.

That seemed to attract her more. Morgan put a finger inside and then she took it to her mouth, tasting it. She giggled and put her whole hand inside.

"She likes it," Carolyn laughed and now she tried to make her drink from the cup. Exactly when she leaned the cup, Morgan whimpered and turned her head away, making the milk pour on her pajamas and on her blanket. "And she's soaked." Carolyn stated and sighed, defeated.

At this point, Morgan couldn't stand it anymore; she was hungry, she was soaked and she was stressed with the two women's struggles to feed her, so she started crying from the top of her lungs.

Claudia grabbed some wipes to clean Morgan, while Carolyn cleaned the milk from the table. "This reminds me of the time when Derek called me asking for my help, because Morgan didn't like any type of milk formula," Carolyn said and took Morgan in her arms. "Baby," she started talking to her and showing her the bottle. "Don't you remember this? This is for drinking milk with it."

They heard some booms coming from out of kitchen and soon Derek ran inside, stumbling, half asleep and panicked. "What happened?" he asked desperately, quickly looking for Morgan. "Why is she crying?" he asked and took Morgan from his mother, slowly rocking her.

"She doesn't want the bottle, Derek," Claudia explained. "And she needs to eat some milk too."

Derek groaned, rolling his eyes and put Morgan back into her chair. Morgan screamed and clung on him, refusing to sit there. Derek didn't listen to her and let her stay in the chair while he sleepily looked for something in the cupboard. He took Morgan's bowl and then he looked for her spoon. He brought them to the table and looked at the two women. "Didn't you think about trying this?" he asked them and poured milk into the bowl.

"Do you want to give her the milk with the spoon?" his mother asked, almost not believing he could come up with that idea.

"No. One of you will do it, because I need my brain to chill out," he said and held out the bowl so that one of them to take it.

Claudia took the bowl and everyone watched how she tried to give Morgan the milk with the spoon. Morgan stopped from crying as she saw her bowl, but she kept sobbing. She looked with a glare at everyone around her while she ate from Claudia.

"This isn't normal, Derek," his mother disapproved. "She'll turn into a spoiled child."

"Why? Because she wants to eat from a bowl?" Derek retorted. "Weren't you saying how hard it was for you to make us give up on the bottle when we were little?"

Carolyn sighed and didn't reply to that.

"This will take forever," he muttered looking at how Claudia was feeding Morgan. "Maybe we should try with the bottle again."

He took the empty bottle from the table to go and prepare more milk, but as Morgan saw it, she started crying and throwing her fist towards him, refusing firmly the idea of being fed with the bottle again.

"That's called tantrum," Carolyn pointed out.

In the meantime, Meredith pulled the car in front of her house. The sun was moving up on the sky and the light was becoming brighter as the sun reflected in the snow. Meredith drew in some fresh air and let the stress of a night shift out. It had been a busy and exhausting night, unfortunately the last one for one of her patients. Meredith tucked the jacket around her body and walked towards her house. She unlocked the door and let herself inside. From the doorway she could hear Morgan's crying. She shut the door and ran to see what was happening to her baby. She stopped at the entrance and looked at all the people gathered around Morgan.

"What's going on here?" she demanded, walking over to the table to check on her baby.

Hearing Meredith, Derek knew they were in serious trouble; nobody was allowed to mess with Morgan's nerves. Derek smiled and pulled her into his arms before she could pass past him.

"Hard night?" he asked her, holding her hair to back and trying this way to distract her from whatever thoughts she had in that moment.

When Morgan was crying like that, Meredith couldn't be distracted. "Yes," she glared at him and pushed him away, walking over to the table to get her daughter.

Baby Morgan calmed down just a little bit once she was in her Mommy's arms. "What's going on here? Why is she soaked?" she asked the others as she ran her hand over Morgan's stomach, soaked of milk.

"She doesn't want the bottle, Mer," Derek answered. "She only eats the milk with the spoon."

Meredith sighed and smiled at Morgan while she patted her gently on the back. "She just woke up and she's full of energy. She only takes the bottle in the evening. You should give her the milk in the evening."

Claudia sighed and nodded as she understood that Meredith was right. "I'll make her something else to eat."

Meredith just smiled at her and put Morgan back in her highchair. "Be patient, ok?" she said to the baby.

Frowning, Morgan stuffed her fingers into her mouth and reached with the other hand for the bowl. Nobody paid any attention to her as Meredith was too tired and she took a seat down at the table, resting her forehead against it and as Claudia was preparing something else for her to eat while Derek took his mother aside for a private chat. Being alone with her bowl of milk, Morgan stopped from crying. She kept putting her fingers into the milk, stuffing them into her mouth then. She looked at the grown-ups as if she wanted to tell them she could feed herself too. Morgan found the act of eating very entertaining; she was definitely proud of herself. She started giggling and slapping cheerfully the bowl. As the bowl was from plastic and it didn't have much milk in it, Morgan's light slaps easily hit it and overthrew it.

Meredith was having her eyes closed and she was trying to back out the unsuccessful cases she had had over the night, when something light hit her and felt warm liquid pouring in her hair.

Everyone turned at the noise, at first shocked to see the Meredith's wet hair and then all of them tried to hide their smiles.

Meredith noticed their amusement immediately. She was tired, her night hadn't been easy, her daughter had greeted her with a deafening crying, so she couldn't stand their smiles. "I've never felt this humiliated in my life," she muttered under her breath. She grabbed a rag for wiping her forehead and stood up from the table. "Thank you," she said dryly to the baby.

Morgan looked up at her Mommy when she stood up, with her finger in her mouth, and as Meredith talked to her, Morgan threw her hand in air and giggled.

Meredith wasn't mad with her daughter, she just felt too tired. She sniffed at the other grown-ups and turned on her heels walking out of the kitchen.

"She had a rough night," Derek excused her to the other women.

Nobody disagreed. Carolyn went to clean the mess Morgan had made with the milk and Claudia hurried to finish the food for Morgan. "I will go cheer her up," Derek stated. He leaned down and planted a kiss on Morgan's head, ruffling her hair. "Behave yourself," he winked at her, smiling and left her alone with her nanny and her grandmother.

"Babies are so unique," Carolyn stated, saying to Claudia. "Each of them has its own personality and habits. After I raised five children, I thought I knew everything about them; I thought I understand them perfectly."

Claudia nodded in agreement. "I spent my entire life surrounded by children and I completely agree with you."

Determined to feed Morgan, Carolyn took her into her arms and sat down at the table with her. "Meredith has a lot of patience with her," she noticed, bouncing the baby on her knees in attempt of distracting her from hunger while Claudia finished the cooking.

"She was shooting deadly glares towards us, though we were innocent," Claudia chuckled. She mixed the food in another bowl and brought it to the table. "Do you want to feed her?" she asked Carolyn.

Carolyn nodded gladly and took the bowl from her. Morgan was either too hungry or too thrilled with what she had done to her mother, so she ate without giving them any trouble. Claudia stayed and cleaned the kitchen, while Carolyn took Morgan upstairs to change her diaper and her clothes.

As she walked past Meredith's room, she stopped for a moment only as she thought she had heard giggles. Giggles and moans were coming from inside. Carolyn smiled at Morgan, shaking her head. "He does know how to cheer her up," she chuckled. She took Morgan into her room and placed her on her hip as she prepared everything she needed for Morgan's toilet. A loud thud followed by a laugher, made Carolyn startle. "I don't think you need to hear that," she said to Morgan. She looked around the table, trying to find something. Luckily, she spotted an interesting toy that might made sounds too. She took a teddy bear and pressed on its stomach to see what its abilities were. Carolyn was lucky because she found a singer toy and not a talking one. Morgan smiled and held her hand out for the toy. Carolyn put it beside her and let Morgan slap it while she started stripping her pajamas off.

"You're a very good baby, did you know that?" Carolyn said to Morgan, smiling at her. "Not many babies stay so nice when they have their diaper changed. Derek was horrible when he was little; he was fussing and crying. He was so bad that nobody was really willing to go and change his clothes." Morgan grabbed her foot and giggled cheerfully. "He was dirty," Carolyn stated with a chuckle, making Morgan giggle again and threw a fist in the air. She picked her up and lay her on her stomach so that she could clean her.

As she did that, Carolyn noticed a spot on Morgan's back, close to the waist. "Look at this. You have a birthmark," she said at first, chuckling. But looking better at it, Carolyn noticed something else. "This looks familiar" she mused. "I think Derek has one too. It's not the same I am sure, but it looks similar."

Because Morgan didn't like the position she was sitting on very much, she started fussing and whining. Carolyn shook her head, clearing it from the thoughts she had and lay Morgan onto her back again. While she put her a clean diaper, Carolyn stayed thoughtful. Something was with this little girl and she couldn't understand what that was. Her hands froze on the diaper as a thought struck her. Could Morgan be Derek's daughter?

She shook her head. That wasn't possible. Derek would have admitted his paternity; he wouldn't have hid it. Besides this, Carolyn gave a second thought; Derek didn't have any birthmark; but then, why was Morgan's birthmark looking so familiar to her? She was sure she had seen it to someone else. She just couldn't remember to whom.

Carolyn couldn't think about it any longer as the door opened and Claudia walked in. "Oh good. You're muffling the noise," she chuckled as she heard the song the teddy bear was singing.

Carolyn laughed and nodded. "Are they always like this?" she asked Claudia.

"No," she shook her head. "There's always one with me and Morgan when they're home. Probably they decided to get off the routine now that they have enough help with Morgan."

Carolyn smiled, shaking her head disapprovingly. "I would have preferred not to hear that."

"I know what you mean," Claudia laughed.

"Hey, did you notice Morgan's birthmark?" Carolyn took Morgan into her arms so that Claudia could see it.

Claudia walked over to them and touched gently Morgan's back. "I did. Meredith says she got it from her," she answered.

"Oh," Carolyn seemed to have understood, though she still knew she had seen it to someone else. Or maybe she didn't. She shook her head and put Morgan back on the table to dress her.

"Do you want me to dress her?" Claudia asked her.

She shook her head, smiling at Morgan. "It's a pleasure to dress a nice baby like her."

"I know," Claudia laughed. "I will go wash some of her clothes then."

Carolyn was with Morgan in the rocking chair, swinging slowly and playing with the teddy bear when Derek walked in.

Carolyn looked up when she heard the door and chuckled knowingly as she saw Derek. "Don't you have to work today?" she asked him.

Derek narrowed his eyes as he walked over to them, checking what his mother's chuckle had meant. "You heard," he mumbled, raising a brow.

"Even the teddy bear heard you," she said, muffling a laugher. She shook her head as she read his embarrassment.

"When you see Meredith, pretend like you didn't hear anything earlier," he asked. He knelt in front of her with a big smile on his face as held his hands out for Morgan.

Though she liked her new grandma, Derek was still Morgan's favorite person. He scooped her onto his arms and kissed her. "We're determined to make a bad impression to Grandma Carolyn, aren't we?" he started talking to the baby. "First we cry after mommy and then we want to eat milk with the spoon and we spill food in mommy's head. What will grandma think about us, huh?" he tossed her up in the air, making her giggle delightfully.

"I think she might try to eat the soup with the fork like you did when she will grow bigger," Carolyn laughed, standing up from the rocking chair. She kept laughing at his amusement. "I am not kidding. You were a difficult baby," she said.

Derek grinned at her and planted a kiss on her cheek, "But you still loved me."

Carolyn smiled lovingly as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"You've been here for long?" they heard Meredith's panicked voice as she sneaked her head inside. She gave a questioning look to Derek and walked inside hesitantly.

"No," Carolyn reassured her. "We just came here to take some toys for Morgan."

"Oh," Meredith sighed with relief and smiled.

"I have to go to the hospital now," Derek stated. He kissed Morgan and gave her a hug before he handed her to her mother.

"Now now?" Meredith asked him, looking at him pleadingly. She had liked his mother the previous evening, but only because they talked for a minute.

"Now now," he laughed and kissed her, whispering. "Morgan likes her." That didn't seem to encourage Meredith so much. "I will see you later, mom."

"You're not eating anything before you go?" his mother asked him.

"No," Derek chuckled. "I woke up too late this morning." He cringed as Meredith elbowed him between ribs. "Be nice to Morgan today," he told them as he ruffled Morgan's hair.

As Derek left them alone, Meredith found herself in uncomfortable silence, smiling nervously at Carolyn. "I want to spend some time with her before I get some sleep," she said, hoping she would spend less time alone with Derek's mother.

"Sure," Carolyn nodded. She easily could see how uncomfortable Meredith was feeling around her, but she was determined to talk to her for at least a few minutes. "I won't keep you long."

Meredith automatically faked a smile and swallowed a lump down her throat. She turned her back on Carolyn as she stepped out of Morgan's room, feeling closely Carolyn's steps behind her.

"Derek told me about the way you met," Carolyn said as they walked into Meredith's room. "It must have been terrifying to you," she added conversationally.

Meredith crawled in the bed and leaning against the headboard she put Morgan onto her lap, holding her hands to help her stay upright. She hadn't given any answer to Carolyn yet and she felt her looking at her expecting.

"It was very terrifying," Meredith finally answered as she kept playing with Morgan's soft hair.

Carolyn smiled and came to sit down on the bed. "You're not feeling comfortable with my presence," she pointed out, keeping her voice calm and gentle.

Meredith looked at her and smiled. "I am just very tired," she tried to excuse herself. She was indeed tired, but she was also uncomfortable with Carolyn; not that for the reason that she was Derek's mother. She really liked Derek's mother. It was rather the fact that Derek's mother knew Mark and it was also because of the secrets she and Derek were keeping from her.

Carolyn smiled knowingly. She could read her better than that. "I know it's not Derek's baby and I am still glad to see Derek happy."

Meredith looked up, surprised with her statement.

"Now tell me more. I don't get to hear about women giving birth into a car very often," she said.

Meredith giggled. "It was very terrifying; so terrifying that I even let a stranger took care of me and my baby. It was like… I was expecting to die anyway," Meredith started telling her about the way she felt that evening when she first met Derek and her daughter.

"You were lucky for finding someone to stop the car and check on you in the first place. I don't know how many people would have stopped and stayed there with you; especially on Seattle's rainy weather," Carolyn answered.

Meredith nodded. "And I was just coming from the hospital that evening."

"Oh," Carolyn looked at her curiously. "I hope you don't mind me asking but… did you work until the due day? I mean, you didn't take a maternity leave before the birth?" she asked Meredith.

Without thinking better at the question, Meredith answered started telling. "I did have a short maternity leave before the birth, but that day I went to sign the contract with the Chief. I wasn't supposed to give birth so quick; I had had one week left until due date."

"I see," Carolyn nodded, but something from Meredith's statement aroused her curiosity. "You're in your second year as doctor and first as resident?" she asked her, though she knew that already.

Meredith nodded. "That's right," she answered and as she didn't feel as uncomfortable with her as before, she went on telling her more, "I finished my first year to New York Presbyterian, but then I …" just then she realized she shouldn't have mentioned that. "I had to move here," she added quietly, avoiding Carolyn's eyes now.

Carolyn didn't reveal her interest and pretended not to have found anything quite interesting in the fact that Meredith had moved from New York to Seattle. "Derek told me you grew up here," she said, smiling. "You brought your daughter home."

Meredith nodded, a little more hesitant now.

Carolyn knew Mark work at the same hospital Meredith used to work. Derek had told her Meredith and Mark didn't know each other, which was obviously a lie as Meredith and Mark were both surgeons. She kept acting as nothing unusual had been said. "That's quite interesting, actually," she chuckled, causing Meredith's heart to start. "Derek left that hospital a year before you started there. You could have been co-workers there, but now you're co-workers here. Fate," she added with another chuckle.

Meredith chuckled nervously, afraid that Mark would come into their talk. But Carolyn's mind was in complete haze at that moment. She stayed composed and continued the flawless conversation. "Morgan is an adorable baby," she said, smiling as she took Morgan's hand. Morgan just smiled at her. "I can sense some trouble with her when she will grow up," she added, laughing.

Meredith laughed too. "I don't know why, but I have the same feeling; especially if she has started throwing things already."

"Exactly," Carolyn nodded. "You need to take some precautions and keep the breakable things out of her way." Meredith agreed with a nod. "She's addicted to you," Carolyn said.

"I am addicted to her too," Meredith said, gently bringing Morgan into her arms and hugging her. "I won't mind that much when she will be spilling food in my hair," she giggled and kissed her daughter's soft cheek.

"Doesn't it feel great?" Carolyn smiled, and she wasn't talking about the food throwing.

Meredith nodded as she knew what she meant to say. "It feels… complete."

"Yes," Carolyn chuckled, nodding. "I think that's the right word." She took Morgan's hand and gently ran her thumb against her tiny, delicate palm. Morgan looked at her and smiled, pulling her hand back and stuffing it into her mouth as she rested her head against Meredith's chest. Carolyn had a thought about who Morgan's father was and she wasn't sure if she wanted to accept that thought. Maybe she was wrong. Without letting Morgan out of her sight, Carolyn hesitantly asked Meredith, "Why did you move back here?"

Carolyn felt her heart sinking as she heard Meredith swallowing a lump.

Words ran through her head and Meredith managed to build a sentence as answer, "I… talked to the Chief Webber and he convinced me to come and finish my residency at Seattle Grace. This is also the place where my mom did her residency," she explained.

Derek had told his mother about how independent Meredith was and how much she hated being compared to her mother or receiving favors for being the daughter of Ellis Grey. Carolyn still refused to accept that thought, although she was very sure now.

"I am going to be a little indiscreet now," she said, looking at Meredith. She could read the panic on Meredith's face. "What if her father wants her back?" she said, talking about Morgan.

"He won't want her back and he won't get her back. He…" Meredith wanted to say, but Carolyn completed the sentence for her.

"He gave up to his parental rights. I know. Derek told me, but still… what if?" she asked her.

"He lost any chance," Meredith answered, with such determination in her voice that Carolyn was sure she wouldn't accept him back into her life.

"Would you let your daughter without a father?" she asked then.

Meredith was getting slightly annoyed with the topic and she even forgot about the embarrassment of lying to Derek's mother. "I grew up without a father. Besides, a father is the one who raises the child, not who conceived it."

Meredith was surprised to see Carolyn smiling. It wasn't a smile of satisfaction; it looked rather as a comfortable smile.

"Derek loves you so much. He absolutely adores Morgan," she stated.

Guilt washed over again and Meredith swallowed a lump. "It looks complicated, I know."

"It just looks?" Carolyn asked her. "How does it feel?"

Meredith looked down, staring blankly at Morgan. "Complicated," she muttered.

Carolyn nodded knowingly. "Do you think there's a way to make it feel less complicated?"

Meredith shrugged her shoulders. "I am not sure," she answered quietly. She felt the mattress shifting as Carolyn stood up.

"I will let you get some rest now," she said. "Do you want me to take Morgan?" Meredith shook her head, without looking up at Carolyn. "I guess I will see you later then," Carolyn nodded. As she walked to the door, she kept glancing at Morgan. She stopped in the doorway and said to Meredith, "Talk to Derek and find together a way of making it feel less complicated."

Meredith looked at Carolyn and Carolyn smiled at her. Meredith answered with a nod only after she had closed the door.

She let out a sigh and lay down in the bed, putting Morgan beside her. The baby watched her mother, smiling as she lifted her foot and tried to stuff it into her mouth. "Do you think she suspects something?" she asked Morgan. Morgan continued keeping herself busy with her foot, wriggling an arm beside her. "Should I worry less?" she asked, trying to find an answer in her daughter's gestures, although she knew she wasn't talking to her for real. Meredith let out sigh and put a big pillow next to Morgan, blocking any attempt of rolling over. She ran her hand across the baby's forehead and planted a kiss on it. "You should turn into a smarter woman than me," she said to her daughter, before she brushed her cheek against her head and closed her eyes.

Meredith couldn't tell exactly how long she had slept, when she felt Morgan's whimper and her warmth leaving her side. Her eyes fluttered open in an instant and frowned as she saw the person in her room. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, letting out a yawn and sitting upright on the pillows.


	27. Chapter 27

While rocking Morgan, Cristina paced around the room, shrugging at Meredith's question.

Confused, Meredith reached for her watch. "Aren't you supposed to be at work at this hour?" she asked her.

"No, and neither do you," Cristina answered. "Apparently we exceeded the worked hours allowed. We should get some rest today; that's what the Chief said."

"Really?" Meredith asked. Not that she would have minded staying home with Morgan for the rest of the day. "But what are you doing here?" she asked then.

Cristina shrugged again while she still tried to calm Morgan down. "This looks like a good place to hang out."

In that moment, the door flew open and Claudia stepped inside, glaring at Cristina. She first checked to see if Meredith was still sleeping before she snapped at Cristina. "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to wait down stairs?"

"The baby was up," Cristina retorted. "Besides, you don't get to tell me what to do. I hired you," she added sharply.

"Cristina!" Meredith scolded, standing out of the bed.

Cristina looked at Meredith in disbelief. "Are you taking her side?"

"She's right. You show up most of the time uninvited and make yourself comfortable here," she pointed out.

"And?" Cristina shrugged.

Claudia laughed sarcastically at Cristina's answer. "Did you hear that?" she asked Meredith.

Meredith let out a sigh. That wasn't the perfect wake-up call; she would have preferred to hear her daughter's scream as alarm rather than the banter between Claudia and Cristina. She walked over to Cristina and took Morgan into her arms, gently rubbing circles onto her back in attempt of calming down her whimpers.

"She's already inside," Meredith gave up and told Claudia. "And I should get up anyway."

Claudia raised a brow disapprovingly. "Do you want me to take Morgan?"

Meredith shook her head. "No. I will take care of her. Thank you."

Claudia smiled and nodded before she shot one last glare towards Cristina and walked out of Meredith's room.

Morgan was calmer now; the shouts and the sharp remarks seemed over, so she could stick her thumb into her mouth again and suck it. She put her head on Meredith's shoulder and watched Cristina with a frown on her face.

"You disturbed her sleep," Meredith scolded her.

"She was awake," Cristina answered. "She was awake and she was trying to stick her foot into her mouth."

"That's worse," Meredith retorted. "You ruined her good mood."

Cristina just rolled her eyes and sat down in a chair, while Meredith took Morgan back into bed, settling on the pillows again. Something had disturbed Morgan's good mood; she was whimpering quietly and frowning now.

"What's your problem with Claudia?" Meredith asked while she had Morgan onto her lap and started bouncing her. "Maybe you hired her, but I pay her."

Cristina kept giving absent-minded answers, shrugging. She took a folder she found on Meredith's desk and placed it on her lap as she started browsing through it. "Life's boring when you don't have a job."

"And you find entertaining pissing the Nannies off, huh?" Meredith giggled.

Cristina raised her eyes from the folder and smirked at her. "That's not so entertaining though," she stated and let out a sigh.

"Adopt a baby," Meredith suggested. "You seem to like babies."

Cristina looked at her amusingly, "Let's not exaggerate. I wouldn't say I like babies. It isn't exactly my type of enjoyment."

"You like Morgan," Meredith pointed out. "And there's no point in denying it, because I know it's true." Cristina just rolled her eyes. "You seriously don't want to have a baby?"

Cristina seemed to consider an answer. "I will," she mused. "When I will retire."

Meredith had to laugh. "So you're not planning on dying in the OR? Really?" she asked sarcastically.

Cristina rolled her eyes as sign of annoyance. "I don't even know why I bear your company," she grumbled, browsing through Meredith's papers.

Meredith giggled. "Maybe it's because I saved you from the unwanted marriage," she pointed out. "Or the better context would be… I bear your company," she mused. As Morgan started fussing on Meredith's lap, twisting her torso as she was trying to see Cristina, Meredith picked her up and turned her around, facing her special friend. "You made her cry earlier, but she still wants to see you," Meredith stated, smiling at Morgan. "You two have a special connection."

"That doesn't mean that I am cut out to be a mom," Cristina stated, discreetly smiling at Morgan. "Who lives to this address?" she asked as she took out of the folder a piece of paper.

"What are you doing there?" Meredith spat as she had just noticed Cristina looking through her things. "Put that back and mind your own business."

"I don't own any business at the moment so I mind yours," Cristina replied, not paying attention to Meredith's scowl. "Do you want to move?"

Meredith let out a groan of exasperation. "That's the address where my father lives."

Cristina curiously looked at Meredith, "I didn't know you have a father."

Meredith rolled her eyes and pulled Morgan into her arms. "Apparently I do."

"You want to visit him today?" she asked her.

Meredith frowned. "No. Why would I do that?"

Cristina shrugged. "Because you noted down his address and because I need something to do today," she answered.

"I don't think I will be visiting him anytime soon; not today anyway. I have other things to worry at the moment and I don't need my daddy issues to overwhelm me too," she stated.

"Is it because of Shepherd's mother?" Cristina asked.

Meredith looked curiously at her. "Maybe."

Cristina closed the folder and threw it back on the desk. "I saw her arguing with Shepherd earlier at the hospital."

Meredith stared at her, panic washing over. "Who? Derek and his mother? They argued? Why?"

Cristina shrugged. "I walked past his office and heard them, but I didn't care about the conflict that much," she answered. She let out a sigh and stood up from the chair, looking around Meredith's room. "So? Are we going to see your dad?"

Meredith shook her head and came out of her thoughts and worries as Cristina asked her that. "No. I haven't seen him... like ever. Why would I bother to go and see him now?"

"Why did you take his address if you don't want to see him?" her friend pointed out knowingly.

Meredith looked down, avoiding the eye-contact with Cristina. "I just wanted to know where he lives," she tried to make it sound matter-of-factly, but it wasn't that successful.

"You should go," Cristina stated. "You should take Morgan with you too. He should see how your life moved on without him. "

Meredith stared at Cristina for a moment. That sounded tempting, but did she have the courage? "I don't think so," she sighed.

Cristina lifted a brow, suggestively looking at Meredith. "Are you coward like him?"

"I am not!" Meredith gritted her teeth angrily, but then she understood. She was as coward as he was, just that she had nothing to be ashamed of; at least nothing as big as giving up to her baby.

Cristina noticed Meredith's thoughtful look and knew she had convinced her. "I will come with you and drive the car. Besides, it is better than thinking about whatever problems you have with Shepherd's mom."

"It's not better," Meredith shook her head. "Between these two things I choose to think about nothing."

"Just go and say hi. You don't have to go inside and have a tea. Then you can take this off your list of worries," Cristina suggested.

"I don't have a list of worries," Meredith frowned.

Cristina looked at Meredith's wrinkles of worry and disagreed. "I would say you have a long list of worries. Just cut one off the list and it will feel … better."

"You don't know that for sure. You are not about to go and meet your father. We are not going to jump into each other's arms and cry and be daughter and father."

"Most definitely," Cristina agreed. "But you would have a worry less, because you did something about your relationship. You gave him a chance without him asking you for one."

Meredith kept her brows furrowed as she considered Cristina's reasoning. "You're horrible when you're bored."

Cristina snickered. "I know. Give her to me," she said, holding her hands out for Morgan. "She needs something special to wear for this event."

But Meredith refused to let her go and she got out of the bed, still carrying Morgan into her arms. "She needs to eat first."

"I will go look through her closet. I don't want the Nanny to poison her because of me," she said as she walked ahead of Meredith out of the room.

Meredith stood for a brief moment, shaking her head. "You really are horrible when you are bored. You're a nightmare."

Cristina just glanced over her shoulder, "It not my fault that your life is a nightmare."

"Why don't we use your life for entertainment?" Meredith asked.

"Because your nightmare comes first," Cristina replied and disappeared into Morgan's room.

Meredith shifted Morgan on her hip and asked her, "Do you think her life is a nightmare too?" Morgan frowned and threw a fist in the air towards her bedroom. "Let's not care about her crap huh?" Meredith giggled. "I mean… her nightmare. Forget the C word."

Her mind was in complete haze as she climbed down the stairs. Her life had been so peaceful lately; being just her, Morgan and Derek felt heavenly. Everything took a sudden change once her mother came to visit and Derek had to talk to her about Meredith's father and once Derek's mother came into town wondering about Morgan's biological father.

Cristina was right somehow; Meredith had to cut off the list one of the worries. The daddy issues seemed the easiest to handle at the moment. As she walked into the kitchen, Meredith found Claudia baking a cake.

Claudia looked up and smiled. "I told her not to disturb her."

Meredith nodded reassuringly, "That's fine. She's special," she giggled. "I have to feed Morgan because I am planning a short visit… to a friend."

"Oh but I already fed her," Claudia stated. Meredith looked confused. It was almost noon and by this hour Morgan should have screamed her lungs out for the food. "She didn't sleep with you, so I took her earlier and gave her something to eat."

"She didn't sleep?" Meredith asked, surprised. "Was I this tired not to hear her?"

Claudia chuckled. "She seemed to be enjoying your company, though you were sleeping. Do you want me to help you get Morgan ready?"

"Cristina offered, but I think I would prefer to have you around too," Meredith smiled.

Claudia put the spoon aside and wiped her hands before she came and took Morgan from Meredith. "She is a smart woman and she behaves nice to Morgan, but she needs to revise her attitude toward the other people," Claudia stated about Cristina.

"Probably she had a rough life," Meredith excused her.

Before they could walk out of the kitchen, Claudia stopped and looked sympathetically at Meredith. "You need to make more friends. Maybe you need some friends outside the hospital."

Meredith frowned a little, not liking to be told about the friendships she should make; her mother used to do that when she was little and that was the reason why she had to play only with mean children. "Right now my time doesn't allow me other friends," she replied and walked ahead, but stopped quickly, turning to Claudia. "Mrs. Shepherd left to see Derek?" she asked, slightly hesitantly.

"Yes; she said she would be back to say goodbye," Claudia nodded.

Meredith nodded too, thoughtful , and spun on her heels. She stopped again and turned to Claudia. Claudia questioningly waited for her to ask or say whatever she didn't have the courage to say. "Did she… look angry? Before she left?"

"No," Claudia answered. "Why?"

Meredith shrugged. Maybe they fought for a different reason. "So she wasn't angry after she talked to me this morning," she wanted to check. Confused, Claudia nodded. "Ok," Meredith sighed and after a second thought she walked out of the kitchen, closely followed by Claudia.

While Meredith entered her room, Claudia took Morgan into hers, where Cristina had already took out of the closet a few clothing items.

"This girl has the whole Paris in her closet," she stated as she felt someone's presence in the room, thinking it was Meredith.

"And she hasn't gotten to Paris yet," Claudia replied.

As she heard her, Cristina rolled her eyes and picked the clothes she liked the most. "Blue suits blonde girls," she stated and showed her a baby blue dress with a white band to tie around the waist, bringing it to the table where Claudia had put Morgan down. "I'll take care of her," she said, trying to block Claudia.

Claudia didn't want to argue and defensively took a step back. "She needs her diaper changed first," she said.

Cristina rolled her eyes at Morgan as she lifted the baby into her arms. As she had her into her arms, Cristina realized she didn't know how to start stripping her.

Claudia pressed her lips together, hiding her amusement, and watched Cristina putting Morgan back down on the table. Cristina took one of her legs, but let it down again as she realized that wouldn't help at all.

"It doesn't hurt her if you lay her onto her stomach," Claudia suggesting, hardly hiding her smile.

Cristina didn't say anything and she just rolled Morgan onto her stomach so that she could unbutton her clothes. As the last button was off, Cristina put Morgan back onto her back and her hands started wandering clumsily over her clothes, without precisely doing anything. She carefully lifted Morgan's shoulder as if it was breakable while she slid the other hand under her, but then she put her down.

Morgan giggled at her and started wriggling her legs, trying to catch her feet. She loved whatever Cristina was doing to her.

"She won't break," Claudia cut in calmly.

"I am a doctor; I know she won't," Cristina replied sharply. Discreetly she took a deep breath and picked Morgan up into her arms. She leaned her against her chest, while carefully she started stripping her clothes. Finally convinced that Morgan's small body wasn't that fragile, Cristina didn't show much difficulty in taking her clothes off. "Can you bring me a clean diaper?" she asked Claudia, annoyed of being watched.

Claudia nodded and went to Morgan's cabinet, where her toilet items were, leaving Cristina making faces at Morgan.

Morgan started laughing delightfully; she just loved Cristina.

"Oh!" Cristina exclaimed, horrified, as she opened Morgan's diaper.

Claudia quickly ran to her to check on her and started laughing at the reason for Cristina's shock.

"How can you live like this?" Cristina asked Morgan. "Your anus blew up or what happened to you?"

Claudia kept laughing and took Cristina's place at the table. "And her diaper is not even full yet."

"And she likes it like this? How can she stand it?" Cristina asked and grabbed the diaper out of Claudia's hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Claudia asked her.

Cristina shot her a glare. "Morgan, you and I need to talk," she said to the baby. "I am going to teach you some things. First of all, if you pee, scream and ask for a clean diaper. Do not pee and poop and pee again and … again and then you start crying. It's not sanitary."

Claudia didn't like very much what Cristina was saying. "She is very well taken care of. You don't wake her up at each half an hour to change her diaper."

Cristina knew Claudia had a point there so she didn't comment. Clumsily she took Morgan's feet with one hand and pulled the diaper away. Claudia could see her face turning white because of the disgust and smiled; she made a wrong impression about Cristina. Maybe she did have a rough life and she wasn't as mean as she showed. Claudia helped Cristina clean Morgan and taught her how to put the clean diaper; she also helped her dressing Morgan with the dress she had chosen for the meeting with her grandfather.

After Baby Morgan was finally clean and dressed, Claudia went downstairs to prepare a bottle of milk and one of water in case Morgan would get hungry. Left alone with Morgan, Cristina held her in her hands, away from her body so that she could have a better look at her. "Cute cheeks," she stated and cuddled her into her arms. Through Morgan's wardrobe, Cristina found something else she liked; a white cloak. She dressed Morgan with it and pulled the hood over her head, although they were still inside at warmth.

As she stepped into Meredith's room, Cristina found her dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring blankly ahead. Cristina rolled her eyes; she knew her friend was having a panic attack. She took Morgan to Meredith put her onto her lap, just then Meredith woke up from her trance.

"Look at you," Meredith giggled at how precious her baby girl looked. Morgan had her hand into her mouth as her mother complimented her; she let out a giggle and struggled to look outside the hood at Cristina. "Cristina dressed you?" Meredith laughed as she took the hood off.

"I have some style," Cristina stated matter-of-factly.

Meredith just half smiled this time. She let out a sigh and cradled Morgan to her chest, resting her chin against Morgan's head. "I am not going to see him," she muttered. "We're going out for a walk."

"It's raining outside," she pointed out, glancing at the window.

Meredith followed her glance and sighed at the rain that poured against the window.

"Let's go," Cristina said. "Did you take the address?"

Meredith squeezed the piece of paper in her hands as she stared at Cristina. She could do that. Somehow. She nodded and stood up, taking Morgan with her.

-------

Meredith stopped the car and watched the quiet street. "I think we chose a bad moment," she muttered. "It's noon. Maybe they're having lunch." She kept gazing out the windshield at the house down the street. Cautiously she hadn't stopped the car right in front of it.

"Do you want to wait for them to finish?" Cristina suggested.

Meredith looked at her friend and nodded. She turned and looked at the backseats at her daughter. Morgan was happily playing with a toy, smiling at her Mommy as she felt her gaze on her.

"Do you think she sleeps enough for her age?" Meredith asked Cristina.

Cristina turned and glanced at Morgan before she got comfortable in her seat again. "She knows what she does and what she needs."

Meredith leaned her head against the chair and kept watching her baby.

Staring out the windshield, Cristina patted Meredith's shoulder. Meredith turned and followed her stare. She froze as she saw a young woman leaving the house with a baby in her arms, waving at someone from the doorway; someone Meredith couldn't see. Meredith swallowed a lump and watched the woman settling the baby in its car seat, taking her time before she drove away and left the street.

"I guess the dessert is also over," Cristina stated and looked at Meredith.

Meredith nervously started tapping her fingers against the steering wheel, glaring out the windshield at the house. The rain had stopped in the meantime. She had prepared a speech in her head; something to tell her father; she had repeated it several times on their way there. She had nothing in her head now.

She unfastened her seatbelt and got out of the car. She opened the backseats door and also unbuckled Morgan from her seat. Carefully she took her out and pulled the hood over head, nestling her into her arms. Meredith drew in some cold air and refreshed her brain. As she headed towards the house, Meredith still didn't know what she would say to him.

Meredith stopped on the large porch, in front of the white door. She stared blankly at its pattern, desperately trying to find the words to say to her father. Morgan was giving signs of weariness; she had her head on her mommy's shoulder, sucking her thumb and waiting to finish the visit and go back home in her crib. Meredith ran her hand over her baby's forehead and planted a kiss on her cheek. Morgan sighed and lifted her head as she looked at the same door as her mommy; she looked at the door and then back at Meredith as if she wanted to ask her something.

"Should I?" Meredith asked her. Morgan lazily put her head back down on her shoulder and stuck her thumb into her mouth. Meredith gave another kiss to her daughter, still staring at the door and wondering if she should knock or leave.

Meredith startled as she heard her phone ringing. She fumbled after it through her jacket's pocket and looked surprised as Cristina's phone number was flashing on the display screen. Confused, she flipped it opened and turned looking at her car. She saw Cristina had taken her seat at the steering wheel.

"Does he have any supernatural powers like Edward Cullen who can read minds?"

Meredith narrowed her eyes as she watched her friend. "Who is Edward Cullen?"

"Not important," Cristina answered. "You can ring once and run if you want to. I have the engine started, ready to pick you up on the run."

Meredith turned and looked back at the white door. "There's no point in doing this. Maybe I should leave," she said, talking to herself. "I stopped thinking about him a long time go."

"But you wrote down his address," Cristina replied.

"This is only Derek's fault. He had to talk to my mom about Thatcher," Meredith grumbled in reply. A muffled thud came from inside and Meredith froze. She remembered someone was living in that house and that someone could hear her or see her talking on the phone on their porch. "I need to hang up," she spoke into the phone and shut it before Cristina could ask her what she would do. She slid the phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath.

Meredith felt her daughter's curious blue eyes watching her while she was deciding either to knock or leave. She looked at her baby and a wave of courage swept through her. She had her baby girl now and nothing else was more important than her; not Thatcher, not Mark, not whatever Carolyn thought about her.

She took another deep breath and rang once. She took a step back and leaned her cheek against Morgan's forehead as she waited. Meredith heard steps approaching the door and her heart started drumming against her chest; there was a moment when Meredith thought she was having a heart-attack.

The latch clicked and the door opened. An elder woman, shorter than Meredith, showed up in the doorway, politely smiling at her and quickly giggling as she saw the baby in Meredith's arms. She questioningly looked at Meredith saying a kind, "Hi."

"Hi," Meredith nervously smiled and held her mouth open for more words, but no sound could come out. She swallowed a lump and felt drops of cold sweat all over her body. Maybe she was at the wrong address, she encouraged herself. She didn't know this woman, but of course she didn't know her father either. Maybe she was at the wrong address; she hoped.

The woman kept looking questioningly at Meredith. "May I help you with something?"

Meredith came out of whatever trance or panic she had fallen into. She nervously smiled at the woman, just picturing herself how ridiculous she was looking. "I am looking for…" she suddenly felt her throat dry and coughed. "I am looking for Mr. Grey?"

"Yes. He lives here," the woman answered. "Come inside," she said as she opened the door wider, inviting her inside. "He is in the kitchen."

As the woman opened the door wider and Meredith could see a little from the inside of the house, she felt like she was living a horror movie. Quickly she made a few steps back and kept smiling nervously at the woman while shaking her head. "No. I will wait for him here. I don't have… much to say to him."

The woman cautiously looked at Meredith, surprised with her reaction. Out of nowhere she started giggling as she glanced at Morgan. "She's not his daughter, is she?" she laughed.

Meredith froze as she heard that. If that woman was his father's new wife, then he deserved the madhouse he was living in now. "No," she managed to breath out the sounds.

The woman kept laughing. "I am sorry. That was an inappropriate joke," she excused herself smiling. "Wait here then and I will go bring him," she said and left the door open as she disappeared inside.

Only when she started chocking, Meredith realized she had forgotten to breathe. She kissed her daughter and waited. If earlier her heart was drumming like crazy, this time she couldn't feel it anymore; every nerve was numb.

A gray-haired man showed up in the doorway, questioningly looking at Meredith. Meredith couldn't do anything else but stare at him. He did look a little like her father. She couldn't tell exactly because she only had one photo of him, when he was much younger.

"Hello," the man said as he saw the woman unable to speak. "You're looking for me?"

Meredith nodded. "I mean… are you… Mr. Grey?" she stammered. The man nodded. "Thatcher Grey?" the man nodded again and Meredith found herself staring at him again. He didn't look like he knew her or remember her. "Hi," she found her voice again. "My name is Meredith," she introduced herself, not moving from the place she had frozen earlier when that woman had invited her inside. Meredith felt Morgan's head lifting and looking at Thatcher Grey. She looked at her daughter and she was indeed staring at him. "And this is my daughter. Morgan Ellis Grey," she added. Her eyes quickly shifted on him again to find him staring at her. Now he definitely knew who she was.

They both stood there staring at each other for a moment. Maybe Thatcher was checking her features; Meredith couldn't tell. She was waiting for a reaction or the smallest change in his feature. His face remained expressionless.

"I am sorry," Meredith apologized sincerely.

Thatcher Grey didn't move an inch. What Meredith couldn't see in that moment was Morgan's frown towards her grandfather and her fuss. Morgan wanted to go; she was either too tired for visits or too uncomfortable with this man, so she let her mother know.

When Morgan started crying, Meredith shook her head. "I am sorry," she apologized again, smiling wearily. "I shouldn't have come. I don't know why I came in the first place. I don't need anything. I am good," she started rambling and composed herself enough to be able to turn around and climb down the porch carefully.

"Meredith," she stopped briefly as she heard him calling her name. She looked back at him and smiled. "Honestly, I don't need anything. I am sorry I showed up at your door," she said and anyone could hear she was honest. Surprisingly, she didn't hate him. She just felt nothing for this unknown man. He could be Thatcher Grey, but Thatcher Grey was also unknown to her.

Meredith carried Morgan back to the car as Cristina had pulled it in front of the alley already. She jumped in the backseats and shut the door, demanding to Cristina to drive away. Meredith laid Morgan into her arms, busy with calming down her whimpers, and didn't glance once back at the house and the man that was still standing on the porch of his house watching the car disappearing in sight.

Cristina drove in silence, now and then looking through the rearview mirror and checking on her friend. Meredith had quiet, painless tears sliding down her cheeks as she gazed out the window. Morgan was sleepy but not sleepy enough to fall asleep and leave her mommy alone with the tears; she clung on Meredith's finger and tried to take it to her mouth. Meredith giggled at Morgan's gesture and gently lifted her so that she could kiss her. She ran her hand over her cheeks and sniffled as she leaned forward to look out the windshield.

"Turn right at this corner and keep driving ahead," she told Cristina. Cristina obeyed without asking about the destination and followed Meredith's directions.

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_**They are going to Derek's trailer, but they make a stop somewhere. :)**_


	28. Chapter 28

"We're at the animal shelter."

Meredith didn't pay any attention to her friend's notice. She knew very well where they were; she had brought them there. Morgan had started fussing when Meredith got out in the cold with her again and Meredith could tell she was very tired and cranky and that's why she was determined to have just a short visit to the animal shelter.

"Hello," a young man came greeting the two women.

Meredith turned and smiled at him. "Hi. I want to adopt a puppy," she said straight.

The man smiled and nodded. "You seem very determined."

"I am."

"Are you?" Cristina asked doubtfully.

Meredith just rolled her eyes as the man looked for Meredith's answer. "I could trade her for a puppy. She absolutely needs a master," she stated and chuckled quietly.

Morgan kept fussing in Meredith's arm as she held her head on her shoulder and whimpered. Meredith ran soothing circles across her back, asking for a little patience. "Can we make it fast?" she asked the man as he started leading their way to the area where the animals were being kept. "It's way past her nap time."

"If you know exactly what you're looking for, it shouldn't take long. The paper work will be done fast," he answered.

As they walked into the room and a few barks greeted them, Morgan's whimpers stopped in an instant. She lifted her head and curiously looked around, now and then glancing questioningly to her mother.

"Look at this!" Cristina snickered as she pointed to a cage where a big, fury dog was sitting watching them. "This one has such a dummy face."

Meredith and the man rolled their eyes. "Will she be living with the puppy?" he discreetly asked Meredith.

Meredith shook her head. "Don't worry."

The man smiled and nodded. "Let me show you some puppies. The puppies we have right now are not so little anymore. The younger ones are adopted first. People want a young puppy for their children."

"It doesn't really matter to me its age," Meredith answered.

The man kept explaining her about how healthy and well trained the dogs were while they walked between cages and saw a couple of puppies. Meredith liked a silver Alaskan dog but as she knelt in front of it, Morgan didn't show much interest. The dog slowly approached and smelled Meredith's hand and then it stuck his nose out as he tried to smell Morgan.

Morgan didn't like it, so she put her head down on Meredith shoulder. Meredith decided to see other puppies too, but Morgan had the same reaction. At first, Meredith thought Morgan was too tired, but then she noticed she had stopped yawning and she was checking carefully each dog her mommy was showing to her; she simply didn't like any.

"You could try an adult dog too," the man suggested. "They are as friendly as the puppies, but a little more responsible."

Meredith agreed. Why not giving a chance for a family to an adult dog too? Meredith saw a golden Labrador she liked, but Morgan didn't share her opinion. Right beside the Labrador's cage was another dog. As Morgan saw him she started squealing and when Meredith knelt, she leaned forward as if she wanted to touch it.

"We'll take this one," Meredith announced.

"The dummy one?" Cristina asked, ready to burst into laugh.

Meredith shot her a glare and went to talk to the man. He explained the male's history and Meredith found out the dog was also a puppy and he had been found on the street in a very bad condition few months ago. As the man brought him out of the cage, he ran straight to Meredith and started smelling her, cheerfully wriggling his tail. Meredith laughed and knew they had made the right choice. She asked Cristina to keep her mouth shut about her dog and hurried to sign the adoption papers and take the supplies she would need for him.

While her mommy was signing the papers, Morgan decided she could go to sleep as she was going to see her dog later. As Meredith put the baby in her car seat and let the dog jump in too, she saw him smelling Morgan. Meredith stayed and waited to see what the dog wanted to do next; though she could tell he was a good dog, she didn't trust him completely. Meredith gasped and slapped him away as she saw him licking Morgan.

"Get out," she asked him and dragged him outside. "You don't lick the baby on the face, are we clear?" she scolded him.

The dog kept wriggling cheerfully his tail as he looked like smiling at her. He barked once and jumped up on Meredith, resting his front paws on Meredith's abdomen. Meredith started laughing as he licked her hands. "I know you're a good dog, but we need to have some rules, ok? Cristina, you stay in the back with Morgan."

"It's not even a breed dog," Cristina grumbled, but she complied and climbed in the backseats next to Morgan, letting the dog hop up in the front with Meredith.

Meredith buckled her seatbelt and smiled at dog as she caressed him. "I've always wanted a dog."

The dog let out a sigh and put his head down on his paws as Meredith took off.

Meredith didn't felt like going home though she knew she should take Morgan to her crib. She wanted a quiet place; a place where she could be away from mothers, fathers, ex boyfriends and away from the thoughts she had. Meredith knew where she was heading as she drove the car on a familiar road.

"I am all for new and hot experiences," Cristina stated.

Meredith didn't pay too much attention to her. She wished she could get rid of her soon. Cristina was a good friend, but she was also exhausting. As she drove to her favorite place, Meredith also tried to figure out a way to make Cristina change her mind and leave. They talked about work and Meredith hoped she would make her ignore the Chief's announcement and go back to the hospital. Since she met her, Meredith learned about how addicted Cristina was to the OR.

While she kept driving, Meredith heard the phone ringing in her jacket's pocket. As the dog looked up and she heard Morgan's whimper, she fumbled for it and hurried to answer, carefully holding the steering wheel.

"Yes," she answered, propping the phone between her ear and shoulder as she re-positioned herself in her seat and could pay attention to the road.

"Are you alright?" she heard Derek asking.

"Yeah, I am… driving," she answered simply.

There was a brief, understandable silence coming from Derek's side. "Home I hope."

Meredith stood quiet too. She knew she was supposed to be home and say goodbye to his mother, but she just couldn't deal with her; especially not after Cristina had mentioned the fight. "I have an errand," she answered quietly.

"Meredith," she heard him sighing her name.

"Please, Derek," she answered pleadingly.

She heard him sighing again. "Is Morgan with you?"

"Yes. Cristina is too."

"So there's a girls-day out," he wanted to sound cheerfully. "Are you having fun?"

It was Meredith's turn to sigh. "Not really."

"Is everything alright, Mer?" he asked her, worried now. "You sound tired."

"I am," she answered.

"And you chose to spend the day with Cristina?" he laughed mockingly.

Meredith smiled. "Not really," she answered as she looked through the rearview mirror at Cristina.

"Do you want me to get you rid of her?" he asked, guessing her intention. Meredith answered with a giggle. "Tell her I need someone to take my patient for a MRI."

"But the Chief said…"

"I know what he said. I can sneak her in somehow," he said.

Meredith glanced back at Cristina through the rearview mirror. She wanted a surgery so bad; but she wanted to be alone too. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure."

"Ok," she smiled.

"So you're not going home?"

Meredith was quiet for a moment. "No." Derek didn't answer in any way and that confused her. "Is everything alright?" she dared to ask.

"We'll talk later when I come home," he answered. "Drive safely. Ok?"

"Ok. Thank you," and she didn't thank him for helping her with Cristina.

Derek knew that. "Sure. Take care," he said before he hung up.

Meredith flipped closed her phone and slipped it back into her pocket, sighing soundly as she looked for Cristina's attention and smiled as she saw she had it.

"I think Derek has an awesome surgery," she stated with another sigh. "He asked me to come and he could sneak me in," she added cautiously, checking for Cristina's reaction.

"As a favor, huh?" Cristina lifted a brow.

"Yes," Meredith nodded. "But I think I want to spend the day with Morgan and my new puppy, so…" she said matter-of-factly, shrugging her shoulders. "Do you want him to favor you?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she asked.

"What? No," Meredith acted offended.

Cristina just rolled her eyes. "There's a cab pulled by the sidewalk. You'd better not get rid of me in the middle of nowhere."

Meredith glanced at the cab Cristina had seen and pulled the car behind it immediately. "How about your car?"

Cristina was already climbing out. "I'll stop by later and take it," she said, carefully shutting the door, not to disturb Morgan's sleep.

Meredith smiled proudly as she saw Cristina climbing in the cab. She started the car again and smiled down at the dog as she ran a hand over his puffy head and drove away only after she saw Cristina's cab taking off too.

As she drove to Derek's trailer, Meredith couldn't help but think at the talk she had just had with Derek. He wasn't mad of her for not going home and say goodbye to Carolyn. She asked herself why was that? He also said they would talk home when she asked him if everything was alright. Why?

Meredith let out a sigh. She tried to fight back all those questions. She was just tired. Soon she pulled the car on Derek's land and got out in the cold. The place looked amazing as she looked around her. It wasn't raining anymore and the sun had started shining brightly. As she opened the door for the dog, he jumped outside and started smelling around, while Meredith went to take her daughter.

Morgan didn't flinch once when Meredith picked her up from her car seat; that tired she was. Meredith scooped her into her arms, gently cradling her to her chest. She shut the door and locked the car.

As she headed towards the trailer, Meredith remembered she should bring the dog with her too. When she turned and looked for him, her eyes grew wide. "I hope Derek won't mind," she giggled as she saw the dog doing his needs in the middle of the lawn. "And I hope he doesn't make me clean after you."

Hearing Meredith's voice, the dog quickly finished his business and came running to her. Meredith laughed and caressed him before she climbed up the porch. "Now should I let you in?" she wondered.

The dog answered with a bark.

"Shhh," Meredith glared at him and looked to see if his bark had disturbed Morgan. But Morgan was still peacefully sleeping in her Mommy's arms. "No barking when Morgan is asleep," she whispered to him.

The dog just looked at her, wriggling his tail.

"Let's go inside," she said as she let herself inside.

The dog smelled the inside before he nestled beside the couch, while Meredith walked into the bedroom and put Morgan down on the bed. She took off her coat and just then Morgan let out a sleepy moan of protest. Meredith couldn't help but smile. Though she was just sleeping right now, Morgan still could make her smile. Meredith planted a soft kiss on her forehead and gathered pillows around her, blocking her any attempt of rolling over, and covered her with a blanket.

As Morgan was sleeping comfortably now, Meredith went and lay down on the couch. She should call home and tell Claudia where they were, but she was afraid Derek's mother was still there. She stayed there and played with the phone several minutes, until she thought Carolyn should be at the airport by now. Meredith took a deep breath and decided to call Claudia. Fortunately, Carolyn had left already and by Claudia's words, she just looked sad; not angry as Meredith had expected. After telling Claudia where they were, Meredith decided to join her daughter for a nap.

It was dark in the trailer when Meredith woke up by a furious bark and Morgan's desperate crying. With shaky hands she managed to turn on the lamp and take her daughter, sleepily trying to understand what was happening.

Before she could figure out, while the dog kept barking furiously at the door, Derek opened the door, but he took a step back as the dog seemed to want to attack him.

Meredith gasped and hurried to get out of the bed to go and save Derek. She grabbed the dog by his collar and pulled him back, asking him to stop.

Staying as far from the dog as possible, Derek stepped inside and took Morgan from Meredith as if he wanted to protect her from the danger.

The dog didn't seem to like that either as he started barking even more furious.

"Stop!" Meredith yelled at him and threatened to slap him. Just then the dog stopped from barking, but kept growling at Derek. "Stop," Meredith demanded in a softer voice now. "That's Derek and this is his house so we don't bark him into his own house."

"What's this, Meredith? Derek demanded angrily.

Meredith nervously smiled at him. "A dog."

"I can see that, but what kind of dog? And you let it inside with the baby?" he scowled.

"He likes Morgan and Morgan likes him," she said.

Derek shook his head disapprovingly and started rocking Morgan, helping her calm down from the scare. As he did that, the dog pulled away from Meredith and went to smell Derek. Derek instantly jumped back. "Meredith," he glared.

"Let him breathe your scent in," she said, but she went on grabbing the dog's collar; just in case. "I don't think you want him to bark you each time you come home," she said, looking up at him.

Derek narrowed his eyes, glaring at her. "Why? You're not planning on keeping him I hope." Meredith just smiled. Derek rolled his eyes and let out a groan of annoyance.

"You know I've always wanted a puppy," she pointed out.

"This isn't quite a puppy," he said, still glaring down at the dog.

The dog sat down and looked at Derek, growling at him.

"He wants you to like him," she smiled.

Derek chuckled at her childish smile. "Then tell him to stop growling at me."

"He will stop as soon as he knows you are a good person."

"He hasn't figured that out yet? He's kind of a dummy dog then," Derek chuckled.

Meredith laughed and shook her head. She rested her hands on his chest as he leaned in and kissed her softly. They comforted each other with an embrace.

Morgan was calmer now. She was sucking her thumb as she had her head down on Derek's shoulder, crankily watching the grown-ups' intimacy.

"Cristina might hate you now," he stated as he took her hand and led her into the bedroom. He startled as the dog took off after him from the first step.

Meredith giggled. "He's the right dog for Morgan."

Derek laughed and nodded. "Let's hope."

"What have you done to Cristina?"

"I didn't do anything. The patient didn't need surgery and then the Chief caught her in the hospital, still wearing scrubs," Derek smirked.

They climbed together in bed and rested against the headboard. Derek lay his legs and put Morgan on them, helping her sit upright.

"Does your mother know?" Meredith dared to ask him.

Derek softly smiled at her and nodded. "I had told her you didn't know Mark, but then you told her you worked in New York at the same hospital as him. Then she saw Morgan's birthmark and she recognized it."

Meredith looked down at Morgan and took her hand, smiling as Morgan smiled too. "That's why you argued," she said quietly and felt Derek's questioning look as she said it. "Cristina saw you," she explained.

Derek rubbed his cheek against her forehead and kissed her.

"She's mad?" she asked quietly.

"She is," Derek answered. He sighed as he put an arm around Meredith and pulled her to him. "She wants Mark to meet Morgan as soon as possible," he stated.

His words were followed by a long, uncomfortable silence.

"I agree with her," he broke the silence. "She says he has to meet her and just then he can be sure if he wants her as daughter or not."

Meredith didn't answer to that. "I saw my dad today."

Derek pulled back to look at her, surprised. "How?"

Meredith took Morgan from Derek and cradled her into her arms. "I went to see him. I found out his address and I went to see him."

Derek didn't reply, but his silence was questioning enough.

"I just wanted… I told him hi and I told him who I was and introduced Morgan to him," she muttered and nuzzled through Morgan's soft hair.

She felt his hand squeezing her shoulder and then his warm lips against her cheek. "What did he say?"

Meredith shrugged and smiled at him, almost amused. "He called out my name after I turned to leave."

Derek lifted a brow, waiting for more.

"I told him I just wanted to say hi and then I left," she added. "Then I went to look for a puppy and Morgan chose this one," she giggled as she looked at the dog, which was sleeping beside the bed now.

"Interesting choice," he laughed at Morgan. "I told Claudia she could go home. What do you say if we spend the night here?" he suggested.

"I don't know. Morgan doesn't have many things here and she needs to eat something."

Derek smirked at her. "I took care of everything. I brought clothes, diapers and food."

As she looked into his eyes, Meredith could see some worry, but there was also a spark of hope and happiness. She wanted that too, so she sighed and let the worries out. She reached out for his lips and Derek caught her face in time, holding their lips pressed together long enough.

Along with a warm feeling inside of her, words came out as whisper, "I love you."

Derek pulled back just a little, enough to be able to look into her eyes and tell her the same thing, adding a few words, "More than you can imagine."

Meredith smiled and nestled her head in the curve of his neck as he held her closer. "I love you," she whispered through a sigh.

Derek just smiled. He would have loved if each of their sentences had ended with these words.

As Meredith was lost in her dazzling feelings for Derek, her hand loosened from around Morgan and the baby started waggling until she fell on her back and started crying. Derek and Meredith started laughing as Meredith hurried to pick her up. Derek took her from her and put on her legs, helping her sit upright again.

"Let's see if she can stay just a little bit by herself," he said and let his hands off her. Morgan slipped aside in an instant. "Wait," he said, picking her up again and tucking his legs underneath him.

She put Morgan on the bed and tried to make her stay upright by herself. Morgan fell immediately and started screaming in protest. The dog accompanied her right away, barking at Derek.

"She's not a toy, Derek," Meredith laughed and took Morgan back into her arms.

Derek leaned to her and kissed her; he kissed Morgan too and got out of the bed. "I'd better feed her. Maybe she'll forgive me," he winked down at them.

The dog greeted him with a growl. "He'd better be well fed," he chuckled and looked at Meredith. As he did that, he saw her smiling guilty. He shook his head. "He's not a toy, Meredith. He needs food."

"He has the food in the trunk."

"I have to bring our food anyway," Derek said and walked outside.

The dog quickly jumped up and hurried after him.

"They'd better become good pals soon," Meredith giggled as she held Morgan onto her lap. "We love Derek, don't we?" she squealed, giving her baby a hug. As she pulled away, she saw Morgan wasn't sharing the same feelings in that moment. She held a big frown on her forehead. Meredith smiled and kissed her. "I am a bad mommy. You need a meal schedule and nap schedule. I'm messing with your health," she sighed.

When Derek returned, he first gave food to the dog before he washed his hands and started cooking for Morgan and for him and Meredith. "Does he have a name yet?" he asked, glancing down at the dog.

Meredith had standing up from the bed and started pacing around, in attempt of keeping Morgan calm. "No. Do you have any idea?"

Derek shrugged and shook his head. As she kept pacing around the trailer, Meredith saw some photos in an envelope, on Derek's table. She took it and laughed as she saw the photos from Morgan's first Christmas.

"Do you remember Santa?" she asked Morgan, trying to distract her from the hunger.

"Leave that," Derek beamed and wiped his hands. "Look in briefcase. Mom brought me some photos."

Meredith looked at him, amused. "Tell me there's at least one photo of you as kid."

"I think there more than one," he chuckled.

Meredith looked in his briefcase and found the photo album. She sat down in the couch, with Morgan on her lap, as she started browsing it. There were several photos from different decades, not in the chronological order. She saw his sisters, as children and mother; his nephews and nieces, as well as some of his brother-in-laws. Then there were a couple of photos showing Derek at Morgan's age, one from the kindergarten and several from high school and college. Meredith burst into a hysterical laughed as she looked at the photos. He was definitely one of the ugliest kids she had ever seen.

"Wasn't I a cutie?" he chuckled.

Meredith laughed even harder as she nodded. Derek laughed too and threw a rag in her. "Mom loved me and she thought I was adorable."

Meredith pressed her lips together as she tried to muffle another laugh. "You were."

Derek rolled his eyes, laughing. "I bet you weren't such a cutie either, when you were little."

"You saw my photos and you know I was," she smirked teasingly at him. "Do you have a blonde sister?" she asked, confused, as she looked through some photos.

"No. Let me see," he said, walking over to the couch.

"Then who is she? Your girlfriend?" she giggled and showed him one of his photos from kindergarten.

Derek chuckled as he saw it, but then his smile became more serious. "That's Mark," he answered.

Meredith stared at him, in shock. She knew they were old friends, but how old they were? As she looked back at the photo, she couldn't help it and burst into laugh again. "He looked like a girl."

"I know," Derek laughed too. "That's why my mom has all these photos of him." He mixed the food for Morgan in a bowl as he came and sat down in the couch with Meredith. "Let's see if she behaves this time while she eats," he said and brought the spoon to her mouth.

One thing Derek had forgotten to bring for Morgan; her bowl and her spoon. Morgan was too hungry at this point to argue over the things she was eating from. Besides this, she also let Derek feed her without even trying to stick her fingers into the bowl.

"How about Cujo?" Derek suggested. He noticed the frown on her forehead after he had mentioned his long term friendship with Mark.

"What?" she absent-minded asked.

"Cujo, as name for the dog."

"Oh," she looked at the dog and nodded. "Sounds nice."

Derek put the spoon into the bowl only to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as he said, "People change; friendships change."

Meredith just showed a small smile. That didn't comfort her with the idea that she had ruined the long term friendship between Mark and Derek.

"Did you know she has another two grandparents besides Grandma Ellis and Grandma Carolyn?" he asked, smiling as he brought the spoon to Morgan's mouth.

"Mark's parents?" she asked, surprised.

Derek nodded. "His father worked as Plastic surgeon and his wife looks as young as… me now. They are on a trip around the world."

Meredith showed a grimace. "I don't think I want them as grandparents for Morgan," Meredith stated.

"I don't want to sound mean, but I don't think they want a granddaughter either. They weren't a great role model for Mark," he stated. He kissed Morgan before he gave her more food.

Not having the stomach empty anymore, Morgan slowly regained her good mood and started giggling and reaching for the food in the bowl. Though his couch was in danger of being stained with food, Derek didn't mind and had fun with her.

"Do you think he will like her?" Meredith asked him quietly.

Derek looked up and sighed. "I am a bad man for saying this but... I hope he won't."

Meredith nodded sadly as she ran her fingers through Morgan's hair. "I hope he won't too. But do you think he will want to come?"she asked him.

Derek shrugged. "I think he will. A co-joint twins separation is a great publicity for any surgeon and Mark likes celebrity. I'll have the Chief call him tomorrow."

Meredith leaned down in the couch and watched the great bond between Derek and her daughter. She was afraid they would lose it once Mark would be back in her life. As Derek had felt when he said it, Meredith felt too; she hoped Mark wouldn't like Morgan and then she and Morgan could be happy with Derek alone. But then, Mark was Morgan's biological father; she wasn't sure if she wanted to have her daughter forgotten by her father as she had been by her own. Or maybe biological didn't mean much; Morgan would have the chance to grow up with a father anyway. That she knew for sure as she watched Derek cleaning Morgan's face and taking her into his arms. Morgan could have at least one father.

_**------------**_

_**N/A: Mark will make his first appearance in the next chapter. Will he or will he not like his daughter? Excited about finding out? I am :) Thank you soooo much for reading this fic. It's very dear to me and I appreciate each review you leave me, believe me.**_


	29. Chapter 29

Holding tightly Cujo's leash, Derek tried to keep up with his pace while they headed back to the house. On the porch, Derek had to jump back when the dog started shaking the water off his big fur. Derek glared down at his water stained clothes. He sighed and opened the door, grabbing the dog's collar before they walked into the house.

From the first walk they had with Cujo, Derek and Meredith learned how much he loved the water; therefore, there was always a towel by the door to dry the dog before letting him run inside. Derek stripped off his jacket and kicked off his shoes. As he walked by the stairway, he heard Morgan's crying and Meredith's soothing words. His first instinct was to go upstairs and check on them, but then he heard someone in the kitchen.

Derek found Claudia starting to prepare the breakfast while Cujo was licking clean his bowl already.

"Good morning, Claudia," he greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, Derek," she smiled back and then worryingly asked, "She still hasn't calmed down?"

Derek sighed heavily and shook his head as he sat down at the table. "She's teething and she cried all night because of the pain."

Claudia nodded sympathetically. "It will pass…" she wanted to encourage him and Derek smiled questioningly at her. "Soon," she answered and chuckled. "Unfortunately there isn't much we can do; just be patient."

Derek nodded in agreement. "I am so tired," he let out a groan as he rubbed both hands against his face. "When Morgan cries, Cujo barks. Soon enough we'll have the neighbors ringing to our door."

He stood up and walked over to the counter to fill a mug with coffee. He needed something strong to kick in fast and help him focus during the day. "The last consult of the conjoint twins is today and I can hardly keep my eyes open," he sighed and took a long sip from the hot coffee; it burned his throat, but it felt refreshing too.

"Can't you go there later and get more sleep?" Claudia asked. Derek sighed and shook his head. "There's something I should tell you, Derek," she stated and by the tone of her voice, Derek knew she was worried about something. Claudia took a deep breath like looking for the strength to say it. "Maybe it's just in my imagination and… maybe that's why Meredith doesn't give any importance to it…" she paused, hesitating.

Derek was seriously worried now. He took his mug and walked over to the counter, leaning against it as he waited to hear more.

"I think it was two weeks ago when a man rang at the door and asked to talk to Meredith. I said to him she wasn't home and he just thanked me and left. I told Meredith about his visit, but I had forgotten to ask his name so none of us gave too much importance."

"Then I am sure it wasn't something important. Maybe he contacted her by phone," Derek answered.

Claudia shook her head. "The next day I wanted to take Morgan out for a walk, but while I was preparing her stroller, something caught my attention. There was a car parked across the street and the same man that had come the day before was sitting inside and watching the house."

Derek froze. He could not believe he was finding out about this just now. "And you didn't say anything?" he snapped.

"I did," Claudia answered fast in her defense. "I told Meredith about it and she agreed with me. Maybe it was just in my imagination."

"Are you sure it was only in your imagination?" Derek demanded. "I think we need a new rule. You're not allowed to take Morgan out of the house unless you're bringing her to the hospital."

"Just listen," Claudia asked. "I am not finished. I didn't go out with her that day," she wanted to mention before she went on with the story. "A few days later… it was late in the afternoon when the same man rang at the door. He asked for Meredith and I gave him the same answer, just that this time I asked him to tell me his name. He said his name was Thatcher Grey. I told Meredith about him and she froze at his name. She just said ok and didn't ask for more details. Is he related to Meredith?"

Derek knew who Thatcher Grey was. "That's her father," he nodded, thoughtful. Meredith hadn't told him anything about this. "But I don't understand why you're worried?" he asked, confused.

"Meredith doesn't seem to want to talk to him, but he came again the other day and I think I have seen him a couple of times watching the house from his car. Are you sure he's her father? I didn't know she had a father."

"He's her father," Derek answered with a nod. "They're not in the best terms at the moment and she doesn't talk about him."

"And you're sure it's safe having him watching the house all the time?" Claudia asked him, still a little worried. "He freaks me out just thinking about him."

Derek couldn't guarantee about Thatcher's Grey sanity. "I'll talk to Meredith about this. You did good by telling."

In that moment, Meredith walked in, carrying a very whiney Morgan in her arms. Morgan nervously slapped her head and pulled off the hat she was wearing while Meredith caught it in time before it could fall down.

Claudia could see how worn out both, Derek and Meredith were. Meredith had bags under her eyes and her hair looked as messy as her daughter's.

"Hi," Meredith just gave her a smile.

Derek went and took Morgan, handing Meredith his mug of coffee. He gave a kiss on her cheek before he kissed Morgan too and took her to the table. He put her down on his lap and ran his cold palm over her hot forehead. "Is she running a little fever?" he asked, worried.

Meredith pulled a chair next to him and held Morgan's hand. "Maybe she has just overheated because of the crying.

Morgan leaned her back against Derek's chest and stuck her thumb into her mouth, whimpering and glaring at everyone. In her good days, Morgan loved having the three people she knew the best for breakfast; she loved staying in Derek's arms and eat while having her puffy cheeks kissed by him –because Morgan had been for almost a month on solids diet and Derek absolutely adored her cheeks. Not today; she didn't seem to like the air she was breathing, the clothes she was wearing; she couldn't stand anything because of the ache caused by the teething.

"I'll make her a milk formula and try feed her with the bottle. Sucking the nipple will help ease the ache," Claudia suggested and dropped the pancakes dough to go and prepare Morgan's breakfast.

Meredith didn't care about the breakfast or about the big surgery that would take place to the hospital soon; she kept wondering if there wasn't anything more serious with Morgan than the teeth growing. She constantly held a heavy rock on her heart, worrying about her baby.

Derek let Morgan go back to her Mommy as he went to help Claudia and finish their breakfast. Meredith closely cradled Morgan to her chest, slowly rocking her back and forth- almost in the same rhythm with her whimpers. Having his stomach full now, Cujo came and jumped on Derek's chair, sitting and looking at Meredith and Morgan. Though she was laid in her mother's arms, Morgan recognized her dog's hot breath. She started fussing, wanting to sit upright. As Meredith repositioned her onto her lap, Morgan stuck her thumb back into her mouth and started staring at Cujo. That seemed to help her calm down her whimpers and distracted her from the ache while Claudia prepared the bottle.

Meredith took the bottle and gave it to Morgan. Morgan had started grabbing things with her hands already and whimpering asked to hold the bottle. As Morgan starting sucking the bottle's nipple, a complete silence filled the room and the grown-ups just watched Morgan eating.

"She didn't want a pacifier until now, but I am sure she would love having one to chew now," Claudia noticed.

"She'll have one after breakfast," Derek agreed. "That might help her calm down the ache."

Meredith didn't give much attention to the discussion that Derek and Claudia were having. She had a lot of things on her mind; that was the day when she would see Mark again and the biggest thing, when Morgan would see her father for the first time. Since Carolyn's visit a month ago, Meredith couldn't stop from wondering how this day would go or if she should let Mark see Morgan. At this point, with Morgan's situation, she couldn't make any scenario.

"Meredith?" Derek's soft breath against her temple made Meredith start. Just then she noticed Derek and Claudia's stares and they were waiting for an answer. Derek smiled at her. "Maybe you should go to bed for a little longer. I will call the Chief and tell him you're not well."

"I am good," Meredith grumbled.

"Then let Morgan trade the empty bottle with a pacifier," he said and pulled the already empty bottle from her hands.

Morgan started crying as Derek did that and held her hands up to get it back.

"I'll take her upstairs and see how I can cheer her up," Claudia offered. "You need a peaceful breakfast."

"Don't you eat anything?" Derek asked her. "The pancakes are almost ready."

Claudia just smiled. "You know you don't have to worry about me. I ate before I came here anyway." She took Morgan from Meredith, same as Derek, running her hand over her hot forehead. "Let's change you from this clothes and calm down, ok?" she started talking Morgan as she walked out of the kitchen. Just then Cujo jumped off the chair and went after Claudia and Morgan.

Derek put a plate of pancakes in front of Meredith and sat down next to her. "Eat something."

Meredith just stared at the plate, showing no appetite.

"She'll be fine," Derek comforted her and gave her a peck.

"I know," Meredith sighed and lazily picked up the fork, slicing the pancakes.

Derek wanted to bring the Thatcher topic into discussion and didn't know how to do it without ruining Meredith's mood even more. "Have you heard anything from your father since your visit?" he tried to sound matter-of-factly.

Meredith looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Claudia told you."

"You can't blame her. He's stalking you? Is it normal?"

Meredith shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. My life isn't normal either," she muttered. "I am not sure what he has to say to me and I don't think I want to hear it. I'm so tired right now."

Derek rubbed circles onto her back and pulled her into his arms. "I know." He knew the reason.

"He's coming today?" she asked and nestled her face in the curve of his neck, breathing in his cologne.

"Yes. If he isn't here already."

Meredith sighed heavily. "I am not sure I want him to see Morgan. At least not now when she's in this condition."

"She's in a natural condition; there isn't anything shameful in this."

"I know, it's just… I don't think I can deal with him," Meredith sighed and pulled away from Derek. She picked her fork up and took a small bite from the pancake. "My father, Mark, Morgan's teething; so many things."

"Right now let's focus just on Mark's visit and the surgery we have today. I told Claudia not to take Morgan outside when she's alone."

"Do you think he will want to meet Morgan?" Meredith asked him. "What if he won't want?"

Derek's answer came naturally, "Then I would be free to adopt Morgan."

Those words brought a small smile on Meredith's lips. "I can't wait to see him leaving."

Derek squeezed her shoulder and agreed with her.

Meredith managed to eat something and Derek refreshed himself with more coffee. As the silence had fallen back over the house and Claudia seemed to have Morgan under control, the breakfast was less tense. After breakfast, Meredith and Derek went upstairs to check on Morgan and then to get ready for the day.

They weren't surprised to find Cujo at his usual place, down beside Morgan's crib, but they were surprised to see Claudia in the rocking chair and Morgan sleeping in her arms. Claudia smiled at them and made them a sign to stay quiet.

Meredith knelt in front of her and gently ran her hand over Morgan's head. Even in her sleep, Morgan was frowning and showing a bad mood, but at least she was finally getting some rest.

"I'll stay with her a little longer," Claudia whispered.

Meredith smiled gratefully.

"We might call you later today to bring her to the hospital," Derek told her. He could see Meredith's glare at his words.

"Ok," Claudia nodded, whispering.

"Call me if anything goes wrong," Meredith asked.

"Of course I will," Claudia nodded.

Meredith leaned in and gently brushed her lips against Morgan's forehead. She sighed as she pulled back and stood up.

Before they left to the hospital, they saw Morgan still sleeping in Claudia's arms and both, especially Meredith, felt an ease.

--------------------

Meredith and Derek got off on the surgical floor together. Meredith was about to head to the locker room and Derek to his office when they saw Cristina, Izzie and a few interns gathered at the nurses' station, giggling and watching something.

Curious, they looked at each other and went to see what was going on.

"Is she drooling?" Derek chuckled as he saw an intern's jaw hanging wide open.

"Why is she drooling?" Meredith asked them and in the same time she followed their gaze. They both did it and their smiles froze.

The Chief and a few other doctors were in a conference room… with Mark Sloan.

"Dr. Mark Sloan is here," Izzie was the first one able to break the gawk and answer. "I've seen his photos in a few medical journals before, but he looks so much better in reality. Do you think he operates on himself too?" she asked Meredith and by the expression she was showing, Meredith could tell she meant that question.

Meredith just shrugged.

"I would so get hot and steamy with Dr. McSteamy," Cristina laughed.

"I so need to get hot and steamy in the first place," Izzie sighed. She looked at Meredith as if she was waiting for a reply from her too, but then she saw Derek and remembered. "Sorry," she smiled at Derek.

"How did you call him?" Derek asked, amused.

"Dr. McSteamy," Cristina answered.

"How can you call him like this? Are you sure he's that hot and steamy as you imagine?"

Cristina lifted a brow and looked at Derek with an offending expression. She rolled her eyes and went back on gawking on Mark. "By the way he looks he can't be another way but good."

"I agree," Izzie nodded.

"I agree too," the intern cut in as well.

Everyone turned waiting for Meredith's answer. "I need to go and change the clothes," she answered quickly. As she turned to leave, Meredith saw her interns still gawking. "There isn't anything medical to learn from watching this doctor…"

"I think there's some anatomy I could learn if I meet him," Izzie interrupted Meredith's lecture with her giggle.

Meredith glared at her and then towards her interns. "If you don't move in the next second, you will be doing scout for the rest of the month."

In less than a second, none of Meredith's interns was in her sight. Meredith glanced at Derek and received one of his comforting smiles. She discreetly glanced towards the conference room too as she started heading to the elevators, but Mark wasn't in sight in that brief glance. She would deal with him later, she told herself. She needed to bury in work and think less about Mark Sloan.

"She needs something hot and steamy," Cristina stated with a thoughtful expression as she watched Meredith leaving. She smirked at Derek's glare.

"Is this how you practice medicine?" Out of nowhere Derek snapped at them. "You'll all have a report because of this," he stated as he spun on his heels and started walking towards the conference room.

Cristina and Izzie looked panicked at each other and sprint off after him immediately.

"Derek, you know we didn't mean what we said. We're just joking," Izzie tried to excuse them.

Derek stopped suddenly and made them almost knock him down. "I am not your friend here. I am your boss. You don't work, I write a report. You know the rules."

"But we're working," Izzie answered quickly and Cristina nodded.

Derek folded his arms against his chest and glared at them.

"I think he wants us to work. Now," Cristina pointed out after a brief moment of thinking.

"It took you long enough to figure out," Derek retorted. He shook his head with disapproving motion and turned around. Why was he bothering with Cristina and Izzie when he had other things, more important to deal with.

As Derek opened the door and walked inside, all the people in the room stopped from talking and greeted Derek either with a short hello or with a smile only.

"Shepherd!" Chief Webber beamed. "You're partner is here," he announced and , having a hand on Mark's back, led their way to Derek. "I am sure you have a lot to catch up and I am also counting on convincing him to move to Seattle and work for us." He patted Derek on the shoulder, lowering the voice, "Praise Seattle Grace for me. We need him."

Mark chuckled. "He will have to work hard to convince me. You know how much I hate the rain."

"But you'll love the people," the Chief replied.

"I naturally don't like people," Mark answered with a smug smile.

"You need to give him a chance," the Chief asked Mark and patted Derek on the shoulder again. "I'll let you catch up with the news now," he told them. Having Mark Sloan working even for a couple of days at his hospital was a reason of joy for Chief Webber. Cheerfully he gestured to the other doctors, asking to let Mark and Derek alone.

Shaking a few more hands, Mark was left alone in the conference room with Derek. As the door closed and there was nobody else but them in the room, the inevitable awkwardness filled the air. They nervously smiled at each other until Mark made the first step and held out his hand for shake.

That felt even worse than the awkwardness to Derek. Probably this was the first time they were meeting and shaking hands. They were more close to each other than a hand shake.

"Long time no see," Mark was also the first one to break the silence.

Derek nodded. "I heard you were to Europe." That was all Derek could think about telling in that moment.

"Germany and Austria," he nodded. "Great places, great doctors."

Derek kept nodding his head at every answer Mark was giving. "Something bigger than a conjoint twins separation? Adult conjoint twins?" he didn't want to let this topic end as he didn't know what else they could talk about without mentioning Meredith and Morgan.

"I have to admit; nothing competes to this," Mark admitted.

Though Mark looked more relaxed than Derek, Derek could tell he was nervous about this meeting too. "How have you been?" Mark wanted to ask, but Derek saw him regretting for asking that.

"Busy," Derek answered simply. "The usual you know already." Like taking care of your beautiful daughter echoed in his head as addition to his answer.

Mark nodded awkwardly. He put his hands into his pockets but then he quickly took them out and folded his arms against his chest. "Is everything alright then?" he asked.

Derek answered with another nod. "Kind of. At the moment," he answered.

That seemed to have kicked up a little interest to Mark. He would have liked to know what the less good thing was, but he didn't dare to ask.

"Morgan's having her first teeth growing," Derek couldn't help it and gave him the answer.

"Morgan," Mark looked questioningly like _'that Morgan'_.

"Morgan," Derek answered with _'that Morgan'_.

"Oh, ok," Mark replied quickly and showed he didn't have the intention to hear and find out more about whatever was going on in Derek's life with _'that Morgan'_.

Another moment of awkwardness was inevitable after that.

"You just got here," Mark noticed, pointing to Derek's street clothes.

"Yeah, well… as I said, I had a situation," Derek answered. "You seem to have arrived a while ago," he said.

"Early this morning," Mark nodded.

"Have you seen the patients yet?"

"Yes," Mark answered and from there their talk drifted to the surgery they were about to perform and they could finally feel comfortable with each other's company.


	30. Chapter 30

Later that day, Derek was in his office doing some research when Meredith walked in. His face lightened up as he saw her. "I haven't seen you all day."

"Yeah, I know. I was…busy," Meredith answered.

"Avoiding Mark," Derek added knowingly, especially noticing the way Meredith was glancing around. He stood up from his desk and walked over to the spot Meredith had frozen and, taking her hand, he pulled her inside and closed the door. They were soon holding each other into their arms with a strong embrace.

"I am sleepy and Morgan is still cranky," Meredith muttered.

"I napped for almost two hours," Derek replied with a smirk.

Meredith giggled and poked him between ribs.

"I looked for you, but you were busy hiding," he laughed. He cupped her face and gently caressed her lips with his own.

"Actually I was busy with Dr. Bailey down in the pit and I am preparing to scrub in for a liver transplant."

"Interesting then. It was worth napping alone," Derek chuckled. He stroked her cheek, caressing it with his thumb.

"Did you talk to him?" Meredith asked him anxiously.

"I did," he nodded. "I think I slipped out the fact that … Morgan's name is Morgan."

Meredith questioningly waited for more. "What did he say?"

"He said nothing."

"But did you ask him if he wants to see her?" she anxiously asked.

Derek shook his head. "We avoided this topic. He wanted to avoid it."

Meredith sat down in the couch and sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I called home and Claudia said Morgan has some fever," she said and looked up at Derek. "I guess he can't see her anyway.

Derek joined her on the couch and cradled her hand between his. "I don't know how to do this," he admitted quietly.

"Me neither," she answered with a sigh.

Derek looked over at Meredith, hesitating before asking, "Should I call and ask mom?"

Meredith slowly turned her head and looked at him in disbelief. "Are you insane?"

Derek looked away and shrugged.

Both looked at their hands, staying quiet for a while.

"What do you think she would say?" she asked quietly.

Derek glanced at her and took a moment to think. "She would ask me to punch him and then put him face to face with Morgan," he said. "No," he added, shaking his head. "She wouldn't ask me to punch him because she wouldn't want to scare the baby."

That managed to make Meredith giggle.

"Let's just wait and see what happens," Derek stated. "He will be here for at least two days, so we still have time to figure out."

"You're right," Meredith agreed. She leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek before she stood, "I should get back to work now."

Still holding her hand, Derek stopped her. "You haven't seen him yet?"

Meredith shook her head. "But it's like I did because everyone is talking about him."

"You're friends are still drooling," he chuckled.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Maybe I should warn them otherwise they can end up with a little Morgan of their own."

"They might not be this lucky and have a sweet little Morgan like ours," he pointed out and smiled broadly at her.

Meredith had to smile to. It sounded … warm the way he said 'ours'. "I will see you later," she said and Derek let go of her hand.

Left alone, Derek went to back to his desk and took a deep breath before he regained his focus and started working. A few minutes later, he was interrupted by a light knock on the door.

As he looked up, he saw Izzie walking in. From the look on her face, Derek could tell she was bringing bad news. Panic struck in as he thought it had something to do with Morgan.

"What is it, Izzie?" he asked.

Izzie brought him a chart. "Down in the pit is this man." As Derek read it, Izzie said, "He's Claudia's son. He came unconscious but he woke up soon after he got here.

"He has a spleen fracture and a few broken bones," Derek read from the chart.

"His wife is on her way here but he said he refuses surgery until he doesn't talk to his mother," she said. "Are they into a fight or something and he thinks he won't make it throughout the surgery?"

"That's none of our business, Izzie," Derek scowled at her. "I will call her right away. You go and take care of him. Rush him in the OR if his condition gets worse."

"Ok," Izzie nodded and sprinted out of Derek's office.

Derek had his hand on the phone already when he realized something. If Claudia had to come to the hospital, she would have to bring Morgan with her. Maybe Mark would meet Morgan after all. Derek reluctantly picked up the phone and dialed home.

Derek had told Claudia to bring Morgan straight to his office as she got to the hospital. Unfortunately, the Chief, along with the medical team due to take part to the surgery, kept Derek busy as soon as he finished talking to Claudia. They all came out of the Chief's office, still talking, only Derek being absent-minded as he kept looking around.

"What's with you, Shepherd," the Chief demanded as he had put him a question and Derek seemed to have not heard it.

"What?" Derek asked, shaking his attention back to them.

The Chief lifted a brow. "I need you focused."

"I am focused," Derek nodded, but his eyes quickly looked away as he heard a baby crying. In that moment, he saw Claudia coming towards him with Morgan in her arms. Derek ignored whatever the Chief was saying to him and hurried to them. He could easily read the fear in her eyes as he approached her.

"Don't worry," he hurried to reassure her. "We have him under observation and we'll take him in the OR as soon as you talk to him. I suggest you to do it right away.

Claudia nodded and wiped away a tear. "Oh Derek. She's not feeling well. She's running high fever and she keeps crying," she said desperately, letting Morgan go to Derek.

Derek took Morgan into his arms and gently cradled her to his chest. "We'll take care of her. Don't worry." Derek looked around and stopped a nurse. "Can you take her to Mr. Allen's room?" The nurse nodded. "I will check on you later. Dr. Bailey is his doctor and she's one of our best general surgeons, so please think positive."

Claudia gave him a weary smile. "Why does he want to talk to me before surgery? And where's Andrea?"

"As I heard, his wife is already there," Derek nodded and rubbed Claudia's arms as comfort. "I don't know what's going on, but you'd better go talk to him now."

Claudia nodded. "I left Cujo with Mr. Benet, your neighbor," she said and smiled worryingly at Morgan before she left with the nurse.

"Derek?" The Chief called out for him, sounding worried.

As he looked back, Derek saw him coming to him, watching Morgan. "What's wrong with her?" he asked, carefully eye-checking Morgan.

"She's teething," Derek sighed and rested his cheek against Morgan's.

"Poor little thing," the Chief smiled sympathetically at the crying baby. "She has grown so much. Dr. Thomas!" He turned and called for an elder doctor, while he put a hand on Derek's back, leading him towards the group of doctors.

Derek looked for Mark's reaction at the unexpected meeting, but Mark pretended to be reading from a chart as he and Morgan approached the group.

"I'd like you to meet Ellis' Grey granddaughter," the Chief went on with the introduction.

"I heard something about Ellis becoming granny," the man laughed and took a closer look to Morgan. "She's adorable. What's her name?" he asked Derek.

Derek felt completely uncomfortable with the situation; Morgan was still crying in his arms, rubbing her face against his shoulder and sweating, Mark was only a few feet away and a bunch of doctors willing to meet Ellis' Grey granddaughter.

"Morgan Ellis Grey," he answered. He could swear he had caught a glance of Mark on Morgan while he introduced her to Dr. Thomas.

"Oh," Dr. Thomas looked surprised. "She doesn't have your last name?" he asked Derek.

Derek swallowed a lump.

"Dr. Shepherd is not Morgan's biological father," the Chief was helpful as he explained the situation. "But he is her father by all the other meanings," he wanted to point out.

Derek couldn't help but smile. He liked when people saw him and talked about him as Morgan's father. But then he remembered Mark. As he looked at him, Derek saw him still reading, but this time he held a deep frown on his face. He couldn't explain why, but that made him feel less uncomfortable. Also encouraged by Richard's words, he wanted to play the role of Morgan's father in front of Mark.

He rubbed his lips against Morgan's hot forehead and kissed her. Just then he noticed that Morgan had stopped from crying. She was just whimpering now, but her attention was caught by the bunch of doctors around her, all gathered and smiling at her. She chewed on her fingers as stared at them.

"She's teething?" Dr. Thomas asked Derek and ran gently his hand across Morgan's cheek. He smiled as Morgan looked curiously at him. "Are you sure you're not father?" he asked and chuckled. "She has your eyes," he pointed out.

"No," Derek smiled, still proud of the resemblance the others were bringing about him and Morgan. "She has her father's eyes," he stated and looked at Mark again. His eyes seemed glued to the chart he wanted to look like he was reading.

"I don't know her father, but let me tell you this," Dr. Thomas started saying. "If you adopt a baby, in time, the baby starts looking like its adoptive parents. That's a scientific proved fact. How old is she now?"

"She's six-month and two weeks old."

"Maybe you can't see it now, but wait a couple of years," the doctor stated knowingly.

Derek didn't have to look at Mark again to know he was in pain. He was ready to ease him of this pain. "I'd better take her to the Pediatrics. She needs some professional care here now that her Nanny has some personal issues."

"Sure. Go," Dr. Webber nodded. "Go and find Dr. Robbins. Tell her I asked for this consult."

Derek nodded gratefully. "I'll get back with you as soon as I am done there," he told them and just turned around, walking away. Somehow, he knew Mark had looked at least once at his daughter and he imprinted her image in his brain.

He was partially right. As Morgan put her head down on Derek's shoulder, she looked at the only doctor who hadn't smiled and asked for her attention. Mark couldn't describe very well her features, but those blue eyes were piercing his. He kept seeing them long after Derek and Morgan were out of his sight.

--------

As the medical team walked out of the patients' room, Derek's pager went off. "I need to check this," he told the Chief and sprinted, going to answer the call.

The chief just nodded as Derek left and turned his attention to one of his special guests. "Dr. Sloan, I think we're done for today. You'd better go and get a good night sleep. We have a long day waiting tomorrow." He patted him on the shoulder before he walked past him.

"Dr. Webber," Mark hesitantly called for the Chief and stopped him. The Chief turned and looked at him, waiting. Mark nervously cleared his throat. "Where is the Pediatric floor?"

The Chief looked surprised. "It's at the fifth floor. Why are you asking?"

Mark shrugged. "Someone asked me earlier and I didn't know what to answer. Just in case that someone else asks me about the Peds again."

The Chief looked at him with distrust. He had worked with Mark Sloan before and he knew he was not such a helpful citizen, despite this, he nodded. "Good Night, Dr. Sloan."

"Good night, Dr. Webber," Mark nodded too. He stood there and watched until the Chief was out of his sight. Carefully looking around him – exactly like sneaking to somewhere- he headed towards the elevator. He walked out of the elevator in the same manner. The Pediatric floor looked quieter. He kept glancing around as he walked over to the nurses' station.

A young brunette nurse smiled as she saw him stopping by the counter. "May I help with you something, Dr…" she leaned forward a little and read his batch, "Dr. Sloan?"

Mark smiled and cleared his throat again. "I want to know in which room is…" he stopped, clearing his throat once more and looking around as if he was making sure none was hearing him. "Morgan Grey?"

The nurse looked thoughtfully at him before she burst. "Oh, Dr. Shepherd's baby. She is…"

"No," Mark stopped her, glaring at her. "I asked you about Morgan Grey as in Dr. Grey's daughter."

The nurse smiled apologetically, also a little confused. "She's in room 428," she answered, pointing over his shoulder.

Mark followed her direction and just nodded, without glancing even once at the nurse. He started walking slowly towards the room. It was at the end of the hall and he could see it from the place he was. Mark remembered he had to look calm. He wasn't sure what he was doing. His feet just led him towards room 428.

He stopped a foot away from the door and looked around. That corner was very private. Through the glass windows he could see a crib but he couldn't see inside the crib. Mark took a step forward and stopped again, in the doorway. He stood there stone-still, his hands in his lab's pockets, steady on his feet. He stood there and listened. He could hear a heavy breathing and a sleepy whimper; but he still could not see inside the crib.

Mark took a half step back and looked outside one the hall. As he made sure nobody would see him, Mark walked into the room with more confidence. He looked cold and professional-like as he walked closer to the crib and saw the baby girl sleeping curled up in her blanket and sucking her all five fingers. This time either- though he was alone with her- he couldn't look at her for long. He looked away quickly and his first impulse was to leave, but as he spotted a chart on a table, his intention changed. Mark hesitated a little and kept glancing outside as he picked up the chart. He turned his back on the room and leaned against the doorframe as he opened the chart.

Baby's name: Morgan Ellis Grey ; Mother's Name: Meredith Grey; Father's Name: Unknown.

Mark looked up from the chart and just glanced over his shoulder. As no one could be heard around, he kept reading. The baby's medical history was all written there; she came one week before the due term and had a weight a little under normal; the place she was born in was also written there. A little about that he knew after Derek had told him about Meredith and Morgan. As he could read from her medical record, Morgan was a very healthy baby.

Mark stirred when he heard Morgan starting coughing. He looked worryingly at the crib but he didn't have the courage to approach it. The cough came accompanied by a crying soon and Mark knew she was awake now. He looked outside on the hall but no nurse or doctor was around. He felt cold chills and panic sweeping through him as Morgan was not just coughing and crying, but she sounded like she was chocking too.

Though he was panicked and had his hands numb, Mark hurried to her crib and picked her up in an instant. He put her to his chest, upright, helping her breathe better while gently patting her on the back.

Morgan's cough seemed to be calming down and she was breathing better. Though he avoided any skin on skin contact, Mark could feel the heat of her fever. Morgan was extremely fussy; she didn't like the condition she was in or the fact that someone unknown was holding her. Crying, she looked straight into Mark's eyes with her deepest frown. She chewed her fingers and her crying soon became a scream as she started throwing sloppy fists in the face of Mark Sloan.

"What's going on here?" an alarmed intern ran in, stopping the doorway as she saw the attending.

Caught off guard, in a position he didn't want to be seen, Mark outburst in the only way he knew. "Are you the doctor who has her under observation?"

Intimidated by his cold tone, she nodded slowly.

"Then where in the hell have you been?" he snapped. "If I hadn't passed by this room and heard her, she would have ended up chocking."

"What?" scared, the intern asked and took a step towards them, wanting to check on Morgan too.

Just that in that moment Morgan had a new problem. Little spasms broke against her chest and spit out a white fluid right on Mark's scrubs. Mark froze at that while the intern had to bite her lip to suppress a laugh.

Mark looked with a grimace at the white, awfully smelling stain on his scrubs and pulled Morgan, keeping her away from his clothes.

Derek's patient had died before he got down in the pit, so he decided to go and spend some time with Morgan. As he walked down the hall in the Pediatrics, Derek could have sworn he heard Mark's angry voice coming from Morgan's room. Scared, he ran there and his feet froze for a brief moment when he found Mark holding Morgan.

"What is going on here?" he soon came out of the shock and demanded. He walked in and stopped close to Mark, questioningly looking at Morgan and then at him.

Seeing Derek, Morgan started crying and reached with her hand for him.

Mark quickly passed her to Derek and avoided any eye-contact with them. "I was just passing by and heard her. I didn't know who she was," he said and the next second he was out of the room.

Derek looked over at the intern, who shrugged clueless. "I found him here," she said. "And he started yelling at me for no reason until the baby throw up on him and then you showed up. He said she was chocking."

"What?" Derek looked immediately at Morgan, checking on her. Besides the tears and the saliva she had her face stained with, Morgan looked like she could breathe easy. Being with Derek now, she wasn't even crying anymore. She wanted to put her head down on Derek's shoulder and just keep whimpering, so Derek hugged her and nodded at the intern. "I am here now so she's going to be fine."

The intern got his message and left him alone with Morgan. Derek walked over to the rocking chair that Morgan had in her hospital room and took a seat in it, still closely holding Morgan to his chest. He started swinging slowly and rubbed small circles on Morgan's back. He could not wipe the image of Mark holding Morgan off his head. He said he was just passing by, but Mark had no business on this floor. Derek knew Mark lied.

"He can only dream I will let him take you," he gritted his teeth angrily. Rage felt his senses and clouded his brain. He knew it was wrong to feel that way, but he couldn't help it. He pressed his lips against Morgan's sweaty temple and breathed in her scent. "You threw up on him?" he asked with a chuckle. "Good girl," he smiled and kissed her once more.

As he kept swinging in the rocking chair and Morgan kept whimpering quietly, the rage started fading. Despite this, his feelings toward the scene he had assisted didn't change. When Morgan pulled away, wanting to sit with Derek, Derek turned her around and placed her on his lap, still holding his arms tightly around her. Morgan looked for his fingers and as she grabbed one, she took it to her mouth. Derek laughed when he felt her chewing his finger and kissed the top of her head.

"I know it hurts, baby. You will get better soon, I promise," he told her. "Let's hope that everything will get back to normal soon," he muttered under his breath, of course talking about Mark. "We need you to regain your good mood. We miss your smile and your giggle," he said, whispering in Morgan's ear. Morgan looked up at him with the saddest eyes. Derek smiled and rubbed his thumb against her soft cheek. "You've become very whiney lately."

Morgan let out another whimper as Derek said that and Derek had to laugh. It looked perfect how Morgan always seemed to have the reaction similar to an answer. He leaned down and kissed her.

That's how Meredith found them when she walked in. "How is she?" she asked softly, smiling at Morgan. She walked over to the rocking chair and took Morgan in her arms.

"The same," Derek answered and stood up, letting Meredith sit down with Morgan. "She's still sweaty, but I think it's because of the heat in here only."

Meredith put Morgan on her lap and took a napkin to wipe Morgan's mouth. Being cranky and whiney, Morgan had to protest and slap her mother's hands away. Pressing her face against Morgan's cheek, Meredith felt a strange smell and just then she noticed the vomit stain on her clothes.

"Did she throw up?" she asked, alarmed.

Derek couldn't answer right away. Could he not tell her about finding Mark in Morgan's room and holding her?

"Just a little. I think I wasn't careful enough when I picked her up," he said. "She was coughing so I hurried to take her."

Meredith sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. "You should be more careful, Derek. She doesn't need other problems. She has enough lready."

"I know," he didn't mind her scowl as he knew he was also lying to her. "I am sorry." He knelt down at Morgan's level and smiled as he couldn't help it and pinched her cheek. Morgan would have loved that in her good days, but those weren't her happiest times so she whimpered and slapped his hand away just like she had done with her mommy.

"I talked to Claudia before I came here. Her son wanted her to know that he and his wife are expecting a baby," she said.

"That's good news," Derek chuckled, truly happy for Claudia, especially knowing how much she loved children.

"Yeah," Meredith smiled wearily.

"What is it? You don't seem happy for her."

Meredith shrugged. "What if she will want to go and raise her grandchild?"

Derek had to admit he hadn't thought about that. "We'll have to wait and see. She loves Morgan so much."

"More than her own grandchild?" Meredith asked knowingly.

Derek sighed and nodded. He didn't like that either, but he was more optimistic than Meredith. "Let's hope she will let us know in time if she really wants to leave and raise her grandchild. Now don't be pouty too. We have one whiney little girl over here and she's already more than I can take," he added with a cheerful smile, loving to tease Morgan and pinched her on the cheek again.

"Leave her alone, Derek," Meredith laughed and slapped his hands when Morgan started crying.

"Isn't there a way to cheer her up?" he asked sympathetically as he watched the baby's pain painted in her frown.

"I don't think there is; at least not right now," Meredith sighed.

As he looked up at her, Derek could see how exhausted she looked. "You need sleep."

Meredith nodded. "I will take a nap after Morgan goes to sleep. You don't think we could take her home tonight?"

Derek shook his head. "She'd better stay here; just in case that the fever comes back. But I have an idea," he smiled. "Why don't we find an on-call room for tonight? She could sleep with us."

"In those sheets?" Meredith gasped and shot him a glare. "Derek, you know what other things besides sleeping happens between those sheets."

Derek started laughing. "We'll look for clean linens. Now why don't you let me change her diaper and clothes while you go and bring her something to eat?" he suggested, already sliding his hands at Morgan's sides to pick her up.

Meredith pulled away, glaring up at him. "Why me? You go and bring her the food and I stay and change her clothes."

"Oh come on, Meredith. I want to spend a little time with her."

Meredith let out a gasp at his words. "You spent more time with her today than I did."

"Yeah, but I seem to have a calming effect on her. She likes my presence."

Meredith stared at him, mouth open, not believing what he was saying. "That's such a mean thing to say. You think she loves you more? I am her mother."

"I am not saying she loves me more, but I think she needs some quality time… with me."

"I am her mother."

"Yes you are and I was there to catch her when she was born. I was the first person she saw," he replied.

"I was the first person that talked to her and the first person she heard. Besides, she lived in my womb for nearly nine months."

Derek narrowed his eyes as he listened to Meredith. "You women think you are great just because the babies live in your wombs for nine months?"

A little confused with the question, Meredith nodded a yes and as both stared at each other, soon they burst into laughter. Meaningless fight they had had over that topic and both of them found it funny.

"Admit it. This was a silly joke but we managed to laugh a little," Derek smiled broadly at her.

"I admit," she giggled. "But I am staying with Morgan here for real."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Like mother like daughter so I don't want to have to deal with your crying too," he replied teasingly and laughed when Meredith pouted.

"You have to change your scrubs anyway," she said, running a hand across his chest. As she did that, she looked carefully at his scrubs. "You have no vomit stain on your scrubs."

"Are you disappointed?" he asked.

"No," she giggled. "I was just wondering. You said you held her and she threw up."

"She threw up a little, Meredith. She has a small stomach," he answered. He still didn't want to let her know about Mark's presence in Morgan's room.

Derek stood up and gave Meredith a kiss when he saw her bouncing nervously her knees. He knew from the worry on her face that she had something on her mind.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Meredith started at his question and shrugged.

"Mer," he said simply, waiting for her to answer.

Meredith shrugged again. "I didn't see him at all today," she muttered and glanced up at him.

Derek didn't know how to reply to that. He just smiled and nodded at her.

"And he didn't want to see her either," she stopped him as he was about to leave the hospital room. As Derek looked back at her, he met a hopeful smile. Did she really wish Mark wouldn't meet her daughter?

Derek nodded his head again and took a step outside the room. The same step he made it backwards as he re-entered the room. He didn't want to give her false hopes. He wasn't allowed to false hopes. "He did see her today," he said.

Meredith's head jerked up. "What?"

"Today. When Claudia brought her to the hospital… I was with the Chief and the other doctors. He didn't look at her but I am sure he glanced at least once to her." That was all he could tell her; just half of the truth.

"Oh," she breathed out with a sigh. "But he didn't come to see her," she said and there it was again; the same small, hopeful smile.

Derek smiled and nodded. "I will be back quickly."

Neither of them knew how to deal with this or if they were supposed to do anything or just leave it as it was. It felt wrong on so many levels and it felt right at the same number of levels too.


	31. Chapter 31

As he woke up the next morning in the on-call room, Derek noticed how exhausted he had been. He hadn't even felt how cold he was and he didn't think he had heard Morgan waking up during the night either. He stood up, sleepily rubbing his arms for warming them, and yawned as he walked to Meredith's bed. A genuine smile crept on his face as he watched them. Of course he was feeling cold. Morgan needed more warmth than him. Meredith looked deep in her sleep as she held Morgan protectively next to her.

As he looked better at Morgan and ran the tip of his fingers across her forehead, Derek noticed she was no longer running fever and she even sounded like she was finally having a peaceful sleep; just now and then she was letting out a quiet, short whimper. Checking his watch, he sighed as he knew he should wake Meredith up too. It was going to be long day.

Derek leaned in and dropped a soft kiss on Meredith's cheek and she moaned in response. Derek chuckled quietly; he loved waking Meredith up in the morning; her moans were making her sound like a little girl. He leaned in and kissed her again. Meredith moaned in protest this time. Derek was a little disappointed because she looked like she wasn't sleeping deeply as he had thought. She must have slept guarding Morgan too. He leaned in and dropped another kiss on her cheek.

"We should wake up, Mer," he also whispered.

Morgan, who was sleeping curled up at her mother's chest, didn't seem bothered by the hustle around her. She kept sucking on her thumb and sleeping.

"I don't like you," Meredith whimpered quietly as she carefully rolled onto her back.

Derek chuckled. "I don't like myself either, but we still have to wake up and take Morgan back to the Peds."

Meredith sighed and nodded reluctantly. She looked over at her baby and smiled as she saw her finally sleeping peacefully. She wished so much for a little free time with her baby girl. She got out of bed and gathered her hair in a messy ponytail before she bent and slowly picked her up.

Morgan whimpered just once, a little bothered by the movement, but then she went back on sleeping soundly as her mother cradled her in her arms.

"I think she could sleep the whole day today," Meredith whispered.

"We all need it," Derek muttered and put a hand on Meredith's small back as they walked out of the on-call room.

They had walked just a little down the hall before they started feeling like they were back to work. Out of nowhere, a nurse ran past Meredith and told her as she kept hurrying, "We have a blue code in room 781."

That was enough for Morgan to wake up. She opened her eyes when Meredith passed her to Derek and it took her a while until she rubbed her eyes and started noticing people around her. She first looked at Derek – who was already assaulting her cheek with kisses- and then at the people running around her. She looked back at Derek and slowly her tiny forehead started crumpling.

"Now there, there," Derek started soothing her from the first frown. "We're going to bring the girl something to eat, ok?"

Morgan put her head down on Derek's shoulder and while she sucked her thumb, she also started mewing. Derek chuckled at her cute noise. He hadn't heard her like this before and though it was still persistent, he found it better than her usual whimper.

As he got to the elevator and the doors opened, Derek was surprised to see Ellis.

"What happened?" Ellis asked and hurried outside the elevator as she saw him with Morgan. From the tone of her voice, Derek could tell she was both annoyed and worried. "I called Meredith but she doesn't answer the phone and there was nobody at home. What's going on?" she demanded.

Derek sighed discreetly. He wasn't really in the mood for dealing with Ellis Grey. "Short version. Morgan is teething and Claudia's son is in the hospital, so Morgan stays with us for the moment."

"How is she?" Ellis frowned at those words. She noticed how absent Morgan looked. She still had her face turned to Derek's neck, mewing and not recognizing her voice.

"She's better now. She ran some fever yesterday and that's why we decided to stay with her here during the night," Derek answered.

Ellis nodded her head and looked around her before she asked Derek, "He is here too, isn't he?" Derek answered with a nod. "Did he saw her?" she kept on questioning him.

Derek let out a sigh and nodded. Maybe he should tell someone about Mark's visit to Morgan's room and then, maybe that someone could tell him what he was supposed to do.

"And?" Ellis asked and looked at him as if it was obvious she wanted to find out more.

"I didn't tell Meredith because…" Derek paused as he wasn't sure he should share this with Ellis Grey.

"I was talking about him. What did he say?" Ellis insisted.

"He gave her to me and left the room," Derek answered. "What does this mean? Should I tell Meredith?"

"This means he has no intention of taking his rights back and it also means that you two are afraid of nothing. As for telling Meredith about this…" Ellis paused as she shrugged. "If you want to have her freaked out… tell her."

"I don't know," Derek answered with a sigh. He kissed Morgan and rested his head against hers. Morgan looked at him and saw her grandmother just then.

Morgan moaned and threw her hand towards her.

"Hi," Ellis said to her granddaughter and took her in her arms.

"You say we shouldn't go and demand him to make a decision?" Derek asked Ellis.

Ellis rolled her eyes. "He made a decision already. Are you trying to force him?" she laughed sarcastically and shook her head. "I don't understand you," she muttered under her breath while she slowly bounced Morgan in her arms.

Derek thought about Ellis' reasoning and it seemed to have some logic.

"You should be showing her off instead of hiding her from him," Ellis stated. In the same time, she and Derek heard Richard's booming voice and both saw him walking out of his office with a couple of doctors, including Mark. "Watch me," she told him before she turned and walked towards the group. "Richard!" she called, smiling at her good old friend.

Richard stopped and chuckled as he saw Ellis. "I should have known you would be here supervising me," he greeted her with open arms. "Or you're here for her?" he asked, smiling at Morgan. He showed the intention of pinching her cheek, but he quickly pulled his hand away as he saw the amount of drool from Morgan's cheek.

Ellis laughed and looked for a napkin in her purse to wipe Morgan's face. "She's teething," she excused her.

"I heard and I can see that she's feeling… better?" he asked.

"She's still in a cranky mood, but she's better," Derek joined them and answered at Richard's question.

After she shook hands with some of the doctors, it was Mark's turn to say hi. "Dr. Sloan," she said, looking at Mark. "I see you decided to join the team."

Mark looked at Derek, then at Ellis, glancing at Morgan just once. He nodded his head. "I've studied the case and my role seems simple."

"No surgery is simple," Ellis replied. "You have to…" her words were interrupted when Mark patted the Chief on the shoulder.

"I have to go get ready," he told him.

The Chief nodded and looked at Derek. "You should do the same. I don't want to see you wearing that scrub top in the OR," he said, grimacing at the saliva stain that Morgan had imprinted on his scrubs.

"I will, but first I have to go and feed Morgan," Derek answered and made a gesture to take Morgan from Ellis.

"She can take care of her," the Chief said. "Meredith spent a lot of time around here as child."

"She needs her diaper to be changed," Derek added, somewhat unwilling to go and be alone with Mark. It was feeling too awkward already.

"She has practice," Dr. Thomas cut in cheerfully and grabbed Derek by his arm. "I haven't had the chance to stay and talk to you yet," he said, already dragging Derek after him.

"He would take this baby everywhere if he could," the Chief stated as he watched the other doctors' leaving. "She's his little girl."

Ellis nodded in agreement and wiped Morgan's mouth again. "I need to go and find a nurse to help with this little one."

The Chief chuckled quietly. Of course she was going to ask for help; somehow he doubted that Ellis ever changed Meredith's diaper.

-------------

Meredith hurried back on the surgical floor after the chaos in the pit ended. She hadn't seen her daughter yet and she knew that Derek was already in surgery. As she arrived on the Pediatrics floor, she went and looked in her daughter's room. There, a nurse told her that Dr. Ellis Grey had her. Meredith looked confused at first, but then she understood; her mother never announced her visits and she wasn't going to miss from a big surgery as the separation of adult conjoint twins.

She still wondered where Morgan was. Knowing her mother, Meredith imagined that Ellis must be in the OR, assisting. She felt rage only imaging her baby girl in the care of a random nurse.

"Have you seen a baby?" she asked one of the nurses from the nurses' station.

The nurse looked amused at her and nodded. "I think Dr. Grey has your daughter."

The picture of her baby assisting to a surgery in an OR ran fast through Meredith's head. No; she shook her head. They wouldn't allow that. But then it was Ellis Grey that we were talking about. Meredith shook her head. "She took her with her in the OR?"

"I don't think she's assisting. I think she's just watching from the gallery," the nurse answered.

"Oh," Meredith was a little confused now. That didn't sound much like her mother. She headed towards the OR and went up in the gallery.

The place was overcrowded, but Meredith easily recognized her mother's voice as she explained the procedure, and a baby's quiet whimper. She made her way through the crowd at her mother and Morgan immediately started fussing and asking to be passed to her mother. Meredith stayed with Morgan in her arms up in the gallery, watching the medical team performing the surgery.

As Meredith took a seat in the front row, she quickly caught Derek's glance up at her and Morgan. Though his face was hidden behind the mask, Meredith knew he addressed them a smile.

At the other side of the table, having his back turned to the gallery, Mark looked at Derek. He didn't have to look back to know who Derek was glancing at.

Being back in her Mommy's arms, Morgan relaxed and seemed she was listening to Ellis' explanations about the surgery, sucking her fingers and amusing the audience with her quiet mew. She soon fell asleep and Meredith had to go back to work, so she first left her in her hospital room, in Claudia's care.

It was late that evening when Derek finished his work. The surgery had lasted almost the entire day, but it ended successfully. After he changed from the scrubs, he went to take Morgan and wait for Meredith in the main lobby.

"Derek," Claudia greeted him quietly as she sat beside Morgan's crib.

As he didn't know Claudia was there, Derek was a little surprised and worried at the same time. "Hi. What are you doing here?" he asked and hurried at the side of the crib. "Is everything alright?" he asked as he looked down at the sleeping baby.

"Yes, don't worry," she hurried to reassure him. "My son is much better, so I decided I could help you and Meredith with Morgan. She doesn't like being alone in here with unknown people."

"She doesn't," Derek sighed. "You shouldn't have bothered though. You look like you could need some rest," he smiled sympathetically at her and made a step forward, pulling her into a hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," she laughed. "I still cannot believe this. I've been waiting for news like this since the retirement," she giggled.

Derek was indeed very happy for Claudia, but same as Meredith he was a little worried and Claudia noticed that. "I know what you and Meredith are thinking. I don't want to stop taking care of Morgan because only I know how fond of her I've become. I don't know what I am going to do after my grandchild will be born. Maybe I will open a daycare," she added jokingly.

Derek smiled suggestively at her. "That wouldn't be a bad idea."

Claudia was no longer smiling and she was staring at him, stunned.

"You like children," Derek pointed out. "I could help you financially."

Claudia kept staring at him.

Derek didn't know how to translate her reaction. Maybe she hadn't thought about it and she surprised with the suggestion. "Take your time to think about it," he told her.

Claudia nodded slowly. "I'll be at your house in the morning, so you won't have to worry about Morgan," she said to Derek as she watched Morgan waking up slowly.

Morgan opened her eyes and rubbed them with her fists, looking sleepily up at the two grown-ups. She held the same frown of discomfort on her forehead, so she soon started sucking fingers and whimper.

"I don't think you are ready for this," Derek said and took the baby out of the crib. "You look tired and you need to take some rest."

"You don't look very fresh either," she pointed out.

Derek didn't feel very fresh indeed. "Don't worry; besides making a visit to my patients in the morning, I will have the rest of the day off, so I will be home with Morgan."

"How about your sleep?"

Derek answered with a smirk. "Do you think I will waste my day off with Morgan by sleeping?"

Claudia giggled. "You can call me if you need help." Derek smiled too, but as Claudia could see, something was disturbing him. "I heard that everything went well with the surgery," she said, wanting to check if this was the reason for his worry.

Derek nodded. "We're optimistic in a full recovery."

Claudia nodded her head; almost sure that something was wrong. "You look like you could need someone to talk to," she said, cautiously looking at him.

Derek was a little confused. Was it this obvious that something big was bothering him? By the way she was looking at him, he knew it was obvious. He walked over to the rocking chair and sat in it, rocking slowly while he cradled Morgan into his arms.

"Her father is here in the hospital," he said quietly as he and Morgan looked into each other's eyes.

"He's a patient here?" she asked softly.

Derek shook his head. "He's a doctor. Mark Sloan, the Plastic surgeon that assisted to the surgery today," he said and looked up at her. "He's also my best friend. Or former best friend," he added with a sigh and looked back down at Morgan. "I don't know," he muttered under his breath.

Claudia looked a little troubled with the information. "I didn't know," she sounded as she was excusing herself.

Derek smiled reassuringly at her. "It's complicated," he sighed.

"It is complicated indeed," Claudia agreed. "So is this why you are …"

"Here? With Morgan and Meredith?" he cut her question off, glaring. "No. I didn't know who they were when I first met them."

"I am sorry," she apologized quietly.

Derek just nodded and kept rocking Morgan, still looking frustrated with Claudia's presumption. Both fell into an uncomfortable silence, while Derek held Morgan into his arms and caressed her face and Claudia started preparing Morgan's bag. Only Morgan seemed to be saying something through her staccato whimper. Her cute whimper managed to amuse Derek a little bit and distract him from his worries. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"I have her bag ready," Claudia said and put the bag in a chair beside him. "I'll go now, but please call me tomorrow if you need help with Morgan."

Derek smiled gratefully. "I won't let you drive. We're taking you home," he said and stood up from the chair. "He came to see her yesterday," he said and stopped Claudia. Maybe she could help him somehow.

She looked sympathetically at him.

"He came to see her but he said he was just passing by when he hear Morgan crying, and then he passed her to me and left quickly."

"He doesn't look like he knows what he wants," she said.

Derek nodded. "And this worries me the most."

"You said he gave up on his rights, so only Meredith can decide who she wants as father for Morgan," Claudia answered. "You're worried about Meredith?"

Derek shrugged. "No," he answered hesitantly. "I mean… we are in a strong relationship now. We've grown as couple."

"I don't think I've heard of a situation like this until now," she stated. "But do you know what I would do?" Derek looked at her questioningly. "I would talk to him and tell him about all my worries and I would demand him to tell me his plans with this little girl. Avoiding this issue can't be good for either of you. Especially for Morgan. Besides, you say he is your best friend; or former best friend. You should be able to talk with more ease about this than Meredith."

Derek had listened carefully to what Claudia said. He was even more confused now. "Ellis said we shouldn't disturb him. He made his choice."

"But he was curious to see her," Claudia pointed out. "And he had no business on the Pediatric floor." Derek frowned as she said that. "I am just telling you my opinion. The only thing I see you could do now is talking to him about Morgan. Have a serious talk." Saying that, she turned and walked out of the room.

Derek stared after her for a moment, taking in her words. Mechanically he followed her outside and all the way down to the main lobby, he thought about what she had said.

As they got down in the lobby, Claudia and Derek found Meredith waiting for them in a chair. As she saw them coming, Meredith stood up and met them half-way.

"You're still here?" Meredith asked Claudia, surprised.

"Yes. When I wanted to leave, Morgan woke up and the nurse seemed to have some trouble with calming her down," Claudia answered.

"You should have asked someone to page me. You really need some rest," Meredith shook her head.

Claudia smiled. "Derek gave me the day off tomorrow."

"You were having the day off tomorrow anyway, without anyone's permission," Meredith scolded and smiled as she shook her head. She walked up to Derek and after she received her kiss from him, she slid her hands around Morgan's body, wanting to take her from Derek.

In that moment, Morgan clutched one fist on Derek's jacket and started crying like she was refusing to let go of him.

Meredith dropped her arms at her sides, staring at Derek panicked. "What is this?" she demanded.

Derek and Claudia looked at each other, as confused as Meredith with Morgan's reaction. "I don't know," he muttered. "Maybe it's because of the teething. It's affecting her brain."

"Or maybe it's because she doesn't want to let go of her Daddy just yet," Claudia cut in, smiling at them.

Meredith stared at her and then back at Derek, questioning, "Derek?"

Derek let out a sigh and started rubbing circles on Morgan's back, helping her calm down. "I told her about Mark."

"I hope you don't mind," Claudia said. "I honestly didn't ask to know all these and I won't be the one to judge the situation."

For a brief moment, Meredith did feel angry with Derek for revealing their secret, but then she saw a very obvious thing. Claudia was closer to her than her mother ever was and ever would be to her. "That's ok. I guess you deserved to know," Meredith half smiled at her. She sighed and worryingly looked back at Morgan. "Did you talk about him in front of her?"

Derek smiled guiltily. "I forgot how perceptive she is." He pressed a kiss against Morgan's soft cheek and gave her to her mother, saying, "Go to Mommy, because she needs some cheering too. We'll have plenty of time for cuddling and loving tomorrow." He gave her one more kiss and let her nestle in Meredith's arms.

Morgan started sucking her thumb and looked back and forth from Derek to Meredith.

"So, you don't have to worry about tomorrow," Derek told Claudia. "Get some rest and maybe you'll consider my idea," he smiled knowingly.

Derek wanted to say more but he stopped as he saw Meredith looking over his shoulder. Then he heard his name called.

"Derek," he recognized Mark's voice.

As he turned, he saw him stopped further behind him, having his hands in his pockets and glanced just one towards Meredith and Morgan.

"Can we talk?" Mark asked him hesitantly.

Derek questioningly stared at him and couldn't help panic to take over. As Claudia had said, he needed to have a serious talk to Mark though.

"I'll go buckle her in," Meredith said and Derek nodded as he looked back at them. "I'll be with you in a minute. We'll take Claudia home."

"Ok," Meredith nodded and without glancing once at Mark, she turned and left with Morgan and Claudia to their car.

Derek had watched them leaving until they were out of the hospital and just then he turned his attention back to Meredith. "We do need to talk," he told him.

"There's a bar across the street," Mark suggested.

"Ok," Derek agreed. "I'll tell Meredith she can go without me."


	32. Chapter 32

After he had told Meredith she could go home ahead, Derek crossed the parking lot and entered the bar across the hospital. It had been long since he last was in that bar; 6 months and probably more than two weeks.

The place was crowded at that late hour in the evening. Derek recognized a couple of faces he saw at the hospital daily, but he was looking for someone in particular. He spotted Mark sitting at the bar, so Derek made his way through the crowd.

"Dr. Shepherd," Alex tipsily stumbled in front of him, laughing. "Did Grey let you outside during the darkness?"

George came behind Alex and pushed him out of Derek's way. "Excuse him. His last neuron just drowned in the alcohol."

"That's ok," Derek chuckled.

"How's Morgan?" George asked, now and then checking where Alex was stumbling at.

"She's better. Meredith took her home tonight," Derek answered. "You should be a good friend and make sure he gets home safely," he said, looking at Alex.

"Or I should be a good citizen and let him lay in the middle of the street," George mumbled. "Give Morgan a kiss for me," he smiled at Derek and hurried to catch Alex and walk him outside.

Derek shook his head, smiling. Just as he looked up and started walking again, Derek noticed how close to Mark he was already and Derek knew he must have overheard Alex and George.

Mark smiled and pointed to the barstool beside him.

As he sat down, the bartender greeted him. "Dr. Shepherd. It's been a while since you last was here."

"Hey, Joe," Derek smiled.

"And I haven't seen a photo of the little one yet," the bartender pouted.

Derek chuckled and took out his wallet. He held two photos in it; one of Meredith and Morgan and one of Morgan and Santa George. He showed Morgan's photo to Joe.

"She's adorable," Joe beamed.

"She is; especially now when she's teething," Derek chuckled.

"Ouch," Joe chuckled too and gave him the photo back.

"You can say that again," Derek laughed.

"What can I get you?" Joe asked.

"A beer."

"Right away," Joe put a bottle of beer in front of him before he could finish the last word.

Derek nodded gratefully and took a sip.

"You held photos in your wallet, people ask you about the baby," Mark said, staring down at his bottle. Only when Derek looked questioningly at him, Mark returned the glance. "To everyone I met today, she's your daughter."

Derek didn't know how to reply to that. He didn't know if Mark had a problem with the fact that people at the hospital was seeing him as Morgan's father.

"I miss you," Mark mumbled. Derek frowned at him and Mark chuckled when he realized how that had sounded. "I mean your friendship."

"Good," Derek sighed and muttered. "Because you made us some shocking surprises lately."

"I miss your friendship and that's why we need to talk," Mark didn't bother Derek's comment.

Derek looked at him, listening.

"I am not a bad man, Derek. I know I did things I am not proud of, but I am not a bad man. If I were, I would have taken Meredith's baby just as revenge, like she did when she kept the baby," Mark said. "I am not cut out to be a father. I would be the worst role model for any child and to be honest… I am not ready to change."

"I love Morgan probably more than I would love my own baby. I was there when she was born and I was there when she took her first baths. I saw her smiling, laughing and frowning for the first time. I don't want to give up on her," Derek stated. He felt like he couldn't hold back all those feelings and had to let Mark know of them.

"I know," Mark smiled. "And that's why I wouldn't want another man but you to take care of her. You want to adopt her?" he asked and answered also, "You have my blessing. Or maybe you don't give blessing for adoptions, but whatever. You can adopt her. I am sure you'd be a good Daddy to her."

"I am her Daddy already," Derek cut him off.

Mark nodded. "You are. I know what your mom thinks. She thinks I am irresponsible, but I am not. Not now and not in this situation. I was irresponsible when Meredith and I … fooled around without being careful to protection, but I am not irresponsible now when I am giving her the chance for a normal and healthy family."

Derek found himself staring at Mark. He knew he shouldn't be feeling like this, but he was extremely happy with what Mark had told him. "Thank you."

Mark rolled his eyes and nodded before he took one more sip from his beer.

"Do you want a photo of her?" Derek was feeling more confident now and decided he could be a little bit more generous with Mark.

"Why?" Mark asked him, frowning.

Derek just shrugged and closed back the wallet.

"I wanted to talk to you about this because this was the reason why our friendship got cold," Mark said. "Let's forget about the fact that I am …" he choked a little and coughed. "That she's mine. We feel awkward with each other and I don't like this."

Derek shifted his torso in the chair so that he could face Mark. "Do you think you can pretend you have nothing to do with Morgan when you will come visit me or when we will come visit you in New York?" he asked.

"I have nothing to do with her," he pointed out.

Derek nodded and turned over to the counter again. He didn't question anything else about the future because the future could change and he was afraid of the change.

"One last question before we move from the topic," said Mark. "You and Meredith are for real?"

"A couple?" Derek answered and Mark answered with a short nod. "We are a couple for real. Why?"

"Just asking," he shrugged and then hurried to add. "I have no interest in Meredith, so don't worry."

"Ok," Derek sighed, discreetly relieved. "Mom convinced you to come here?"

"Convinced is too less," Mark chuckled. He sipped from his beer and looked at Derek. "After she came from Seattle, she came to me straight from the airport. Luckily she found me at home, because the yelling and the slapping would have been my social death sentence."

"Mom slapped you?" Derek burst, surprised. He didn't remember seeing his mother slapping anything else but the counter, ever.

"She was kind of pissed," Mark nodded and sighed. "You should have warned me with a call or something. I couldn't smile for a whole day because of the pain."

Derek just imagined the scene and, biting his lip, he started laughing.

"Funny, huh? You weren't in my shoes," Mark muttered.

"It's impossible for me to be in your shoes because I wouldn't knock up a woman and then abandon my baby," Derek replied and there was no tent of scold in his voice as he said that.

Mark narrowed his eyes and glared at Derek. "That was right below the belt."

"But true," Derek pointed out.

Mark just shrugged. "So. Are we pals again?"

Though he declared himself satisfied with their talk, Derek still couldn't help but feel awkward with Mark. Maybe he needed a little time to get used to the unusual situation. "We are," he nodded.

"Good," Mark sighed with relief. "Because I have some tells to share with you."

"Please tell me these tells don't include other babies," Derek groaned.

"You don't want more, huh?" he snickered.

Derek turned to him and glared. "That's not funny, Mark! I can't even believe you can make jokes about this. You're the biggest jerk I met in my life," he said as he threw a bill on the counter and stood up.

Mark quickly grabbed him by his arm and stopped him. "Bad joke, I know."

"No. You are a bad joke," Derek retorted.

"Ok. However you say, just sit back down," Mark insisted.

Derek took a moment to calm down. He sat down on the barstool again and took a big sip from his beer. "There are things you can't joke upon."

"I know," Mark sighed.

They stood quiet and drank from their beers for a while; as long as it took Derek to calm down. "You came to see her," he murmured.

Mark didn't answer right away, so Derek looked at him. Just then he saw him nodding.

"Why?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders. "I was curious."

After a short pause, Derek asked, "And?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders again. "What do you want to hear?"

"Your opinion about her?"

"She's a baby," Mark answered. "Now please let's move from this topic. Again."

Derek obeyed and quickly the tension and awkwardness between drifted. They talked about New York, Mark's new Private Practice, their friends and their common memories. Derek didn't even realize when two hours passed away. As he took out another bill out of his wallet, Derek also pulled out Morgan's photo. Mark had his jacket on the counter, so when he was looking away, Derek slipped it into the pocket.

Derek didn't know why he had done that. Maybe because Mark would like to be Morgan's uncle one day.

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Derek looked up at the house as he walked out of his car. He saw the light in Morgan's room on and couldn't help but smile. What else he could wish more than spending a little quality time with his favorite baby girl before bedtime? He locked his car and headed towards the front door.

As he walked inside, Cujo was already there greeting him with a bark and waggling cheerfully his tail. Derek laughed and bent down, patting him on the head. "It's good to be home, isn't it?"

Cujo barked again and turned around, running up the stairs. Derek hung his jacket in the closet and locked the door before he followed the dog upstairs. From the end of the hall he heard Meredith's soft murmur coming from Morgan's room. As he stopped in the doorway, Derek smiled and leaned against the doorframe, watching Meredith while she slowly rocked Morgan in her arms.

Feeling someone's presence, Meredith looked up and smiled as she made him a sign to stay quiet. "She had a bad dream I think," she whispered.

Derek walked inside and went to them, pressing a strong kiss against Meredith's lips and caressing Morgan's head. A chuckle of happiness came out through his lips as he watched the sleeping baby.

"How is she feeling now?" he asked in whisper.

Meredith smiled down at Morgan's little frown. "She's much better. She didn't eat much but she seems calmer."

Derek kept smiling as he sighed. He put his arms around Meredith and kissed her on the cheek.

"You're very cheerful," Meredith said, curious.

"Cheerful doesn't describe enough what I feel right now," he chuckled and kissed her once more.

"Ok," she looked at him, even more curious now. "I guess you had a good time with Mark. You're still friends. That's good."

"We're still friends, but you know what's better than this?" he smirked at her. "The fact that he doesn't want to have anything to do with Morgan. He won't do anything to get her back as we thought he might do."

Meredith was staring at him now, shocked with what Derek had just said; and she wasn't pleasantly surprised. "Is this why are you so happy?"

Derek didn't pay attention to Meredith's cold voice and answered with a nod.

"So you're happy because Morgan's father doesn't want to have anything to do with her," she added dryly.

Just then he noticed something was wrong with Meredith's mood. "I thought you were afraid that he might change his mind," he said, confused.

Meredith didn't reply to that; that's what she had wanted, but having that pointed out now, it sounded too sad; too much like her own story.

His previous good mood vanished instantly in front of her silence. Had they lived and told each other lies? The pieces were not matching in his thoughts.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" he barely could put the question.

"What?" Meredith burst out loudly. "How can you ask me something like this?"

"I am asking this because I thought we had something. I thought that's what you wanted too," he burst back.

At this point, at their raised voices, Morgan opened her eyes and started whimpering as she frowned at the grown-ups. Meredith picked her up and leaned her against her shoulder, patting her gently on the back.

"You don't understand," Meredith grumbled and started pacing around the room in attempt of calming Morgan down.

"Help me understand then," Derek demanded.

Meredith stopped suddenly and glared at him. "Can you please not yell in front of my daughter?"

Anger had taken over more than necessary, so Derek took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "What's going on, Mer?" he asked her, softer now.

Meredith looked away as she kept slowly bouncing Morgan in her arms. "You don't understand," she muttered.

"You already said that, but why don't you try me?" he insisted.

Meredith looked at him with the saddest eyes. "You can't understand."

Derek still couldn't realize the resemblance between Meredith's childhood story and Morgan's. He thought at the worst. He had truly believed that Meredith was hiding her real feelings for Mark. His fists were tightly rolled and his thought clouded.

"I am going out for a walk," he grumbled and turned towards the door. He needed some air and time not to make a rush decision or say something he might regret later.

Meredith realized just then she should have just trusted him and tell him what she had on her soul. "Derek," she called for him, pleading.

Derek stopped, but didn't look back at her. He shook his head and walked out of the room as he said, "I will be back later. Don't wait for me."

Probably understanding something about a walk, Cujo followed Derek outside.

Meredith felt a little relieved to that. Going out with Cujo for a walk meant that he would be back for real this time. She sat down in the rocking chair and started swinging slowly while cradling Morgan to her chest. "Mommy is so so so stupid sometimes," she said to the sleepy baby.

Morgan let out a yawn and drifted back to sleep. The last days had been painful and exhausted enough to her, so she wasn't in the condition of dealing with the grown-ups' issues now. She had no doubt that they would figure the situation out and make the best decisions for her. So she soon started sleeping soundly in her Mommy's arms.

Meredith heard some soft steps climbing back the stairs and a rushed breathing. She looked up at the door and her heart sunk when she saw Cujo running back into the room and sitting down at her feet.

"I guess we should listen and not wait for him," Meredith said to Morgan.

In that moment, Cujo and Meredith let out a sigh and both seemed to be listening to the rocking chair's soft creak.

Derek lost the track of time as he stood in his car, watching the house. He saw the lights turning off downstairs, then turning off in Morgan's room and turning on in Meredith's. For a while now, the house was in complete darkness.

Driving at the deck and then back home, he had time to wrap his mind clearly around the fight he had had with Meredith. How could he think so selfish and forget about Meredith's father. Just then he realized that.

Meredith had told him a few times she loved him and he still believed her. What they lived hadn't been a lie. Besides this, he found it natural if Meredith still held some certain feelings for Mark. He had talked to Mark, so it was time to talk to Meredith too. He needed to sort out this mess in his life.

He finally got out of the car and hurried to lock it, then ran through rain to the porch. He let himself in again, and same as earlier that evening, Cujo was there to greet him, with a growl and a bark this time.

"Shush," Derek whispered to him and Cujo whimpered apologetically when he realized it was Derek coming home at that late hour. Cujo ran back upstairs and Derek smiled, shaking his head. Maybe Cujo wasn't the smartest dog in the world, but he knew he could trust him in protecting the girls. Derek hung his jacket back into the closet and took a deep breath before he went upstairs.

He first checked on Morgan's room and wasn't surprised to see that Morgan wasn't sleeping in her crib. Many times Meredith took Morgan with her in bed when Derek had to work at night. He closed the bedroom door and crossed the hall, quietly walking into Meredith's room. He approached the bed and through darkness could see Morgan sleeping besides a stack of pillows and Meredith fussing on her side of bed.

Derek headed towards the bathroom, carefully avoiding Cujo, who was now sleeping near the bed. After he had changed in his pajamas, Derek turned off the light in the bathroom and returned in their room. Meredith was fluffing her pillow when Derek walked in, so he knew she wasn't sleeping. He walked over to her side of bed and lifted the blanket as he made himself room behind her.

"I am sorry," he whispered in her ear and wrapped an arm around her, pressing his body against hers.

"Me too," she whispered back.

Derek leaned in and dropped a soft kiss on her cheek. "I love you," he said and nestled with her in his arms.

"I love you too," she answered back. "Not Mark."

They stood like that and just listened to each other's breath and to Morgan's calm sleep; until Meredith said, "You don't know how it feels."

Derek sighed and nodded slowly to himself. "I don't. But I understand."

Meredith rolled into his arms so that she could face him. As Derek ran his thumb across her cheek, he wiped a tear away. "I told you I never held any kind of feelings for Mark. Not even after Morgan was born. When I was little, I wondered myself what I was doing wrong. Why my dad had left me, why my mother was almost never home, and just now I found the answer. I didn't do anything wrong, same as Morgan didn't do anything wrong. It's only their fault. Our dads' fault."

Derek kept running his thumb across her cheek and wiped away her tears. "Morgan has a different story," he pointed out.

Meredith nodded her head. "Because she has you as Daddy," she said quietly.

Derek couldn't help but smile at those words. That was probably the first time he heard talking about him as Daddy to Morgan. "Mom will beat the crap out of Mark, but I still think he did the right thing. He admitted he couldn't be responsible enough to be a father to Morgan. I know it sounds selfish of me, but I couldn't help it. I shouldn't have beamed so much over this, I know," he admitted.

Meredith let out a sigh and rested her forehead against his chin as she nestled closer into his arms. "I overreacted. It just sounded in a way that made me so angry."

"I know," he brushed his lips against her forehead. "And again, I am sorry for the way I said it."

Meredith lifted her head and dropped a kiss on his chin before she rolled over and drew the blanket up on Morgan. "I am so tired."

Derek stretched his arm so that he was now holding Morgan too. "Sleep well."

They both knew they were back to normal now. They were back to normal but in a different picture; Derek could freely consider himself Morgan's father.


	33. Chapter 33

Derek lazily rubbed his face against the pillow and opened his eyes as he woke up. The room was sunk in a strong light and confused, Derek rolled onto his back and checked the clock. He was surprised to see it was already 9 o'clock in the morning. Looking beside him, Meredith was long gone to work and only Morgan had stayed and slept with him.

She had her fist rolled under her chin and her face turned to Derek as she slept. Derek smiled when he saw the way she was sleeping. That was one of the pictures he wanted to remember clearly for the rest of his life, so he stretched his arm behind him and looked on the nightstand for his phone, without looking away from Morgan for a single second. He flipped his phone open and set up the camera. Just a soft click and Morgan's picture was saved in his phone. Derek saved the picture and put the phone back on the nightstand. He rolled on his side and hugging his pillow, he kept watching Morgan.

It didn't pass long when Morgan yawned and slowly opened her eyes. She looked straight into Derek's eyes as she woke up and she seemed so calm, even happy to see him there with her. They looked into each other's eyes with a strong gaze until Morgan yawned again and started fussing. Derek left her as he saw her trying to roll onto her stomach, wanting to see what she would do next. He was sure he was going to be amazed of whatever little Morgan had in plan for that morning.

Being finally on her stomach, and closer to Derek, Morgan put her head down on the bed and looked at Derek. She prattled something and threw a fist in his face.

"Yeah, yeah, you have to do everything," Derek laughed, answering to whatever Morgan was trying to say to him. He picked her up and rolled back onto his back, holding her up in the air for a moment. "Good morning you too," he chuckled and kissed her cheeks before he put her down on his chest.

Morgan arched her back a little and looked up at Derek. He knew she wasn't completely out of pain yet because a soft frown was still there on her face, same as her short whimpers. Derek smiled at her and cupped her tiny head in his hands, fixing her pink hat on her head.

"What would you say if we play with the camera a little bit?" Derek asked and looked for the camera in the same time. Because the camera was nowhere close to them, Derek wanted to stand up, but Morgan started crying in protest.

Not wanting to spoil their moment, Derek lay back down and started rubbing small circles onto her back. "Maybe some other time," he concluded.

Morgan put her head down on his arm and started sucking her thumb. In the meantime, Derek pulled the blanket over them and gently held both arms wrapped around Morgan. He pressed his lips against her head and kissed her, staying like that and breathing her in as he closed his eyes.

His eyes popped opened the next second as he felt the mattress shifting under a weight and Morgan taking her head off his arm. Derek saw Cujo sitting right beside him, with his mouth wide open and breathing in his face. He chuckled and pushed Cujo's head away, "Don't you think I have enough drool on me?"

Cujo glanced at him and then looked back at Morgan before he put his head down on his paws and closed his eyes.

As he looked down at Morgan, Derek saw her still sucking her thumb, but this time watching Cujo.

Derek didn't know when he had gone snoozing, but at some point he felt a light, warm touch pinching on his nose. As he started waking up again, he also recognized Morgan's prattle. She was still there on his chest; now struggling to hold onto his nose.

Derek laughed and took her hand, kissing it. "I guess we had enough sleeping."

He wrapped firmly one arm around Morgan and stood out of bed as he threw the blanket off them. "Let's get ready for the day. Mommy didn't call us and this means that we can be carefree all morning," he smiled at Morgan. "Are we hungry?" he asked Morgan. Cujo jumped off the bed in the same time and barked at Derek. "Are you answering for Morgan or for yourself?" Derek laughed.

Morgan just clutched on his pajamas with one hand and kept herself busy with her fingers from her other hand.

Derek smelled himself and made a grimace. "I should take a shower first of all," he muttered and trailed out of the room, walking into Morgan's. "You're going to stay nice here for a minute only," he told her as he took her to her crib. He laid her down and put a teddy bear in her hands, hoping it would keep her distracted.

Morgan took the teddy bear but didn't give any attention to it. She was carefully watching Derek. She saw him smiling down at her and then disappearing out of her sight.

Derek was about to walk out of the room when Morgan realized what Derek was doing. He was leaving her awake and alone and she let him know of the fact that she wasn't happy with that; Cujo wasn't happy either. Derek groaned and turned on his heels, heading back to her crib, glaring at Cujo as he walked past him, "Don't you think I heard her?" He leaned over and smiled down at Morgan. "Please, play with the teddy bear and wait for me, ok?" he pleaded and showed her the toy again.

Morgan's crying calmed down and she grabbed back the teddy bear, taking a bite of its ear.

"That's my good girl," Derek cooed and patted on her stomach. Morgan even seemed to be smiling at him in that moment. Derek sighed with relief and stepped back from the crib. This time he didn't made more than a step when Morgan started crying and Cujo barking again. Derek whimpered too. He returned to her crib and picked her into his arms. "I need to shower. I stink. I promise it won't take me long," he tried to explain to the baby, but Morgan didn't seem to understand him or want to understand him. Maybe she had to remember the hell of pain she had been through recently and she still needed his soothing presence. Her blue eyes filled with tears and she started sniffing back the tears. "Now that's called tantrum and we will have to have a serious talk about it," Derek sighed. He carried her out of her room and walked back into his.  
He walked over to the bed and sat her down on the pillows. "Do you see that door over there?" he asked, pointing towards the bathroom door. "I will be only two feet away from you and I won't stay long." Of course, Cujo was everywhere Morgan was. "Cujo will keep you company, ok?"

Derek made a stack of pillows around her and gave her back the teddy bear, but looking into her eyes, he knew she wouldn't let him have his shower this time either. He took his night shirt off and smiled at her. "Come with me," he picked her back into his arms.

This time he walked into the bathroom and placing Morgan on his hip, he freed one hand and turned on the water. He leaned a little over the sink and splashed cold water over his face, accidentally splashing on Morgan too. He chuckled when he saw Morgan trying to lean for the water stream too. He helped her reach to the water and laughed when Morgan couldn't take the strong stream and pulled her hand back, scared. She looked at him like she was trying to understand what was so funny.

"Let's fresh you up too," he smiled at her and wetted his hand before he ran it over Morgan's face. Morgan didn't like that very much, but she didn't make a big deal out of it either and let him wet her face again.

Derek took a towel and wiped their faces before he took Morgan back into his room. He put her down between the stack of pillows and told her, "You don't need a shower, but I need to do something about me."

He ran into the bathroom and splashed water over his chest, using a little soap too, drying himself on his way back to the bedroom. This time he was surprised to find Morgan grabbing handfuls of Cujo's fur, grumbling something.

Derek gasped and threw the towel away as he ran to free Cujo from Morgan's hands. Morgan whimpered in protest when Derek pulled her fists away from the dog. Though the dog looked resigned with the torture the baby was giving him, Derek didn't trust in his animal instinct. Only when Derek freed him, Cujo looked up at them, wondering what he had missed and why was Morgan crying. Derek took Morgan into his arms and ran his hand over her chin, whipping her drool away. "You have strange ways of entertaining yourself, baby Morgan. We don't play with Cujo this harsh because he is a poor soul too and it hurts him," Derek explained.

Morgan's crying had stopped, but she still held tears in her eyes, frowning as she seemed to be listening to Derek. When she looked over at Cujo, Derek didn't have any doubt that a little she understood each time he or Meredith tried to explain her something. In that moment, he felt he loved her even more; as if 'even more' was possible at the amount of love he was carrying for this little girl. He pressed two strong kisses on her cheeks and said as they stood up, "Let's change the diaper and then eat something."

Derek could tell that Morgan wasn't completely well after the teething from the lack of smiles and giggles. He noticed though that her regular whimpers and mews had passed too. He changed her clothes without much trouble and then he took her into the kitchen.

Morgan proved to have a great appetite that morning, so Derek was grateful for it and even let her feed herself too, though her face looked like the bowl with food had exploded in her face in the end.

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Later that morning, Derek was outside the house, on the driveway, folding Morgan's stroller and putting it in trunk of his car. He walked around and got on the driver seat. He shut the door and then turned and looked at Morgan, who was sitting nicely in her car seat.  
"We make a short stop at the hospital to see Mommy and my patients and then we go out for a walk," he told Morgan and reached with his hand for her tiny fist. He squeezed it lightly as he smiled at her, and then Derek looked at Cujo. "You sit nice and take care of her."

Cujo put his head down next to Morgan's car seat and waited for Derek to take off. Derek fastened his seatbelt and then started the engine. Soon he pulled the car in the hospital's parking lot.

Derek got outside first and took a large breath of the warm air. It was the end of February only but the weather couldn't be warmer and sunnier for this time of year. He walked to the backseats door and opened it, leaning inside and taking Morgan from her car seat.

"You will have to wait for us here. You can come inside," Derek told Cujo.

Cujo whimpered and put his head down on his paws. "We'll be back fast," Derek patted him on his head before he shut the door.  
With Morgan on his hip, Derek opened the trunk and took her stroller out, unfolding it swiftly. Then he strapped Morgan in the stroller and locked the car before he started wheeling towards the entrance.

From the moment they stepped in the elevator, Morgan drew all the attention over her. Some of the nurses knew her already, others were just patients' visitors. Morgan didn't pay any attention to them. She sat nice in her stroller and chewed on her favorite blanket.

As he wheeled the stroller outside on the surgical floor, Derek and Morgan were greeted by Izzie's cheerful beam.

"Oh my! Look how pretty you are!" Izzie stopped in front of the stroller and knelt down at Morgan.

"Hey, Izzie! Do you know where Meredith is?" Derek asked her.

But Izzie was still smiling at Morgan and pinching her cheeks. "You look so pretty in pink. You're all covered in pink," she cooed at her as she looked at the pink clothes Derek had dressed her with and her pink blanket. "You only need a pink stroller now," she giggled. "Although, I think this navy stroller and your pinkness look like a perfect combination."

"Izzie," Derek called out for her attention, but Izzie just flashed him a smile and a sign of patience.

"Meredith had to see a patient down in the pit, but she should be back any minute now," Cristina informed him.

"Thank you," Derek smiled gratefully.

"Did you know I've started knitting a sweater for you," Izzie kept cooing to Morgan. It's going to have a puppy on it."

"Which rather will look like a kitten," Cristina cut in. "I saw it."

Izzie glared up at her before she smiled back at Morgan. She looked in her stroller and saw one of those toys that jingle when you shake it. She gave it to Morgan and the baby took it without trouble in her tiny fist. She held it tightly and shook it against Izzie's nose, hitting her. Morgan whimpered and threw the toy down then.  
Derek and Cristina didn't hide their chuckles.

Izzie stood up rubbing her nose. "I think she's still cranky."

"I think she is," Derek laughed and bent down to pick up Morgan's toy.

"Here's my girl," Meredith showed up in that moment, stopping in front of stroller as well. She held a huge smile on her face as she crouched in front of the stroller. She hadn't noticed when Derek took a step forward to kiss her, but in that moment she slid down to Morgan. Nothing could bright more her day than her baby girl; Derek could bright her nights though. She strapped her out of the stroller and took her up into her arms. She pressed kisses on her cheeks and just then she looked for a napkin in her lab's pockets to wipe Morgan's drool. "You should always have something to wipe her mouth, Derek," Meredith scolded.

"And I have," Derek showed her a clean handkerchief. "But apparently I am invisible to the women today," he grumbled, a little frustrated with the fact that she was the second women that day who hadn't answered to his greeting.

"That's the effect the babies have on women," Izzie pointed out. "Men always come on the second plan."

"Next time I will make sure to cover her with the ugliest rugs," Derek chuckled.

"She would find a way out," Meredith smiled. She put a hand on his chest and leaned in, kissing him. "Hi."

Derek caught her face and held her lips close for a moment longer. "Hi," he smiled and kissed her back. "I need to go and check on my patients and I will be back quickly. I left Cujo in the car," he told her. He gave Morgan a kiss and left her with her mommy.

Izzie ran after him. "I forgot to tell you," she told him and both stopped as Izzie looked through her pockets. "Joe asked me to give you this," she said and handed him Morgan's photo. "You forgot it at the bar."

Confused, Derek nodded and took the photo. He hadn't forgotten it at the bar; he had put it in Mark's pocket. Derek sighed and shook his head discreetly. In that moment, he stopped trying to figure out what was going on in Mark's head. He also stopped carrying. He hurried to his patients because he couldn't wait to get back to Morgan and spend the day with her.

----------

Derek soon finished the rounds and went to get Morgan back from Meredith. After a lecture of how not to walk Morgan for too long, Derek kissed Meredith and wished her a good day as he knew how to entertain the baby girl without harming her.

As he drove back from the hospital and passed past a shopping center, Derek got an idea. He veered the car to the right and stopped in parking lot, in front of the shopping center. Derek unfastened his seatbelt and looked in the back seats, where Morgan and Cujo were staying quiet.

"Hey, Cujo. Do you think you can stay in the car alone for another few minutes?" he asked the dog. Cujo answered with a sigh and put his head down, resigned. "Good dog," Derek chuckled and hurried to get out of the car.

He opened the backseats door and freed Morgan from her chair. "Look we don't even take the stroller, so be patient," Derek started talking to the dog while he took Morgan into his arms and wiped away her drool. He pulled the hood over her head and waved at Cujo before he shut the door and locked the car.

Derek entered the shopping center and walked with Morgan in his arms, looking for a specific store. A posh window with sparkling diamonds caught his attention. Derek smiled and headed that way.

"Will you help me find Mommy a pretty ring to impress her with?" he cooed at Morgan.

Morgan whimpered as she wanted to see Derek, but she couldn't clearly do it as the hood was covering her face. It was warm in the Center so Derek pulled her hood off.

Derek walked into the store, where a soft music and bright lights greeted them. He walked over to the counter and a woman in her early 30's smiled as Derek approached her.

"Good morning, sir. May I help you with something?"

Derek smiled, shaking his head. "First we want to take a look at the rings."

"Certainly," the woman nodded and led him to the window where the rings were. "Let me know if you need help."

Saying that, the woman went back to the counter and started chattering quietly with another two young women, most probably her colleagues. Derek had to admit that he wasn't impressed with the lack of interest she was doing her job, but he wouldn't have liked her to have her hovering around him either. Derek started searching for the right ring, but soon he found himself dizzy with the amount of sparkling rings and he could hardly see one ring in particularly.

"Ok, Morgan," he sighed and crouched in front of the window. "Now I could really need your help."

Like any girl- though she was six month old only- Morgan was charmed by the sparkle of the jewelry. She did hear when Derek talked to her and was able to just glance at him once.

"Which one do you think Mommy would say yes to?" Derek asked her.

Chewing on her finger, Morgan took a moment of staring at the window before she took her finger out and pointed it towards the rings.

"Sir!"

In that moment, when the saleslady burst loudly, Derek jumped and stood up. He saw her coming to them, glaring.

"She imprinted her drool on our window!" she scowled.

Taken off guard with this reaction, Derek couldn't feel other way but guilty and embarrassed. "I am sorry, but …" he stammered. "She's teething."

"Good for her," the woman smiled sarcastically. "Can she not be teething on our show windows?"

That was all it took to make Derek feel like wanting to slap her. "She's a baby and I am very sorry, but I don't think you should make such a drama out of this. She has small fingers and therefore, small fingerprints," he barely could keep his voice calm.

Realizing she had been disrespectful with a customer, the saleslady softened her features and tried to sound more politely. "I am sorry, sir. It's just that it's not allowed to touch the show windows."

"I know and I am sorry too for letting her so close to it, but this doesn't excuse your attitude," Derek replied.

At that point, feeling Derek's tension, Morgan felt like she should take his side and so, as protest, she started crying.

"That's ok, sweetie," Derek soothed her. "We're leaving right away." Turning to the saleslady for the last time, Derek told her, "I am sure that the financial crisis still allows you to clean it."

"Sir," the woman called after him, but Derek didn't want to hear more.

He walked out of the store and kissed Morgan, who was still weeping. "Let's go and find another one and I promise that if people there won't be nice, we leave right away."

Morgan put her head down on Derek's shoulder and let him walk her through the shopping center. Derek wandered a little until he found another jewelry store. This one wasn't much different as design that the previous one, but the people there didn't look bored with their job.

"Good morning, sir," a young man greeted him and Morgan, smiling at her. Because he didn't seem to be smiling just because that was his job, Derek liked the guy.

"Hi," Derek answered with a smile. "We are looking for a ring, but…"

"Sure," the man had hurried to help him.

"But first," Derek stopped him. "My baby is teething, so she drools a lot these days. I would like to know if you will get all mad if she accidently drools on your windows."

The man looked back at his colleague. Behind the counter, a young lady had overheard Derek's request. They looked at each other, amused, before the man turned to Derek. "That's fine," he answered, hardly able to hide his amusement.

"Ok then," Derek nodded. "Let's see some rings. Maybe you could help me?" he asked them. "I have the dog locked in the car and I don't think it's wise to let him alone in there for so long."

"That's why we're here," the man nodded. "What kind of ring are you looking for? I mean, is it for your wife, mother, girlfriend?"

"My girlfriend," Derek answered. "And I am looking for something like… an engagement ring."

"I see. Let me show you some models," he motioned for Derek to follow him to a window. "How would you like it?"

As he looked down at the rings, Derek found himself in trouble. There were so many models of rings, all beautiful and sparkling and same as in the previous store, he couldn't distinguish a certain ring. He also didn't know what Meredith would like. He hadn't seen her wearing jewelries at all, so a big rock was out of the question.

"Maybe I could give you some suggestions," the young woman offered.

Derek smiled at her and nodded. "I think I could need a woman's opinion." As he looked at Morgan, Derek saw her staring at the woman that was now standing so close to her. "I don't think I can count on her help anymore," he chuckled and kissed Morgan.

The woman glanced at Morgan once and then she looked back at her, smiling, confused. "Is she…"

"Staring," Derek chuckled. "You're a new face to her."

"Oh," she managed to chuckle too, but she was still dazzled by Morgan's intense stare. "That's…" Whatever she had wanted to say, she didn't say it as she understood it would have been inappropriate maybe.

Derek nodded reassuringly. "Creepy and also rude. I know. We'll lecture her later on when she will be able to understand us."

As Morgan and the girl kept staring at each other, or rather, Morgan stared at her while the girl looked like hypnotized, Derek said to Morgan, "Morgan, please pay attention to the rings. We have to go back to Cujo."

Hearing Derek's voice addressing to her, Morgan looked at him. Just then, the girl was able to tear her look from Morgan.

Finally being able to focus, the girl showed Derek several rings she liked the most. Derek had to agree with her as she proved to have good taste. All of them were simple but still so elegant; and expensive. Some of them had flowers designed out of little diamonds, others had small simple rocks of all colors, or bands of all shapes. The ones with floral design were amazing, but a little too broad and he didn't know if Meredith would like it. Maybe she wanted something discreet such as the rings with small rocks; thin and elegant. Or maybe she wanted something to show off with. He wasn't sure.

"I don't know," he shook his head, disappointed, and sighed.

"What kind of jewelries she wears?" the girl asked, wanting to help.

"She doesn't wear any," he answered.

"This means she doesn't care much about the weight of a diamond and she finds more precious the gesture of receiving a ring. I recommend you one of these," she pointed to the rings with small rocks. "To be sure you don't fail, you could choose this one," she took a ring, white golden ring with a pink heart shaped diamond. "The main rock is small, but it also has small white diamonds imprinted around the band," she twisted it around her finger to show it to him. "So you can consider it as valuable as one with a big diamond. The price is similar to those."

Derek took the ring to have a better look at it. It was indeed special. "I like it," Derek stated. "I just wish another color for rock. Do you have other colors?" he asked her. "Something like blue or green?"

"I have a sea green," the girl stated and gave him the ring.

As he saw it, Derek knew that was the one. "That's perfect," he smirked at her. "What do you think, Morgan? Do you think Mommy will like it at least a little bit?" he asked the baby, showing her the ring.

Morgan grabbed it between her tiny fingers and took it to her mouth. Derek gasped and hurried to take it out of her hand. "I hope you wanted just to kiss it," he scolded her softly and handed the ring back to the saleslady. "I'll take this one."

"I will wrap it for you. Do you want a specific color to the box?" she asked Derek.

"Navy or black," he shrugged and just noticed the way Morgan was looking at him. "It doesn't really matter," he added muttering as he tried to read the expression on Morgan's face. She was looking into his eyes with an expression of displeasure and sadness. "Aww, what is it, Morgan?" Derek asked her softly, knowing something was wrong with her. Morgan blinked and looked down at the shelves. "You know that's for Mommy."

"She might one too," the girl giggled.

Derek hadn't thought about that, so he was surprised when he looked Morgan and saw her staring at him with pleading eyes. "I think this is the first time I see her pleading," he muttered, stunned with Morgan's expression. "She's pleading, isn't she?" he asked her, wanting a second opinion.

The man had joined them and they all looked at Morgan, agreeing. "She's pleading."

Derek laughed and shook his head before he kissed her.

"Here's your ring," the girl put the box in a paper bag and gave it to Derek. "Anything else?" she asked suggestively, looking at Morgan.

"I don't know," Derek laughed, confused. "She's too little for rings."

"I see she doesn't have earrings," she noticed.

"I don't think so," Derek disagreed. "Piercing is not what she needs these days."

"Maybe a bracelet?" she suggested.

Derek thought about it for a moment. "A tiny one and with a good lock."

After he left a good amount of dollars at the jewelry store, Derek and Morgan headed back to their car. Cujo seemed to have stayed nice in there as they found him sleeping. Derek opened the door and put Morgan in her car seat. From the shopping center, Derek drove them to the park as he had promised Cujo.

The weather was extremely sunny and warm and therefore, the park was crowded, though it was during the week. Derek put Morgan in the stroller and holding Cujo's leash, they walked through the park, just enjoying the sun. Morgan stood quiet, just watching how Cujo played with the other's dogs, while Derek was quiet, thinking about what he was about to do. He hadn't planned the whole thing with the ring. It had been a spontaneous idea, but he was determined to go on with it. There were no special events coming up in the following days, so what better day then the present one to prepare something special for the proposal. He just had to think how to organize everything and how to put the question. He was also worried about how Meredith would react to it, but he saw how much they had grown as couple so he hung on that and felt more optimistic.

When Morgan started fussing, being bored with the same scene of dogs playing, Derek called Cujo and started walking again. He wheeled the stroller along to alleys, now and then stopping as a woman wanted to say hi to the cute Morgan. Surprisingly, Morgan liked the attention she was receiving and Derek felt flattered too.

"If your Mommy knew," he chuckled as he looked down at Morgan. He stopped beside a bench and pulled the stroller in front of him. He took Morgan's favorite blanket and put it on his knees before he freed her from the stroller and took her into his arms, wrapping her into the blanket. Then he looked for the few toys he had taken with them. Morgan was still not showing a great interest to the toys; when she was bored, she preferred to see how much of her foot she could stuff into her mouth or if the bunnies from her blanket would protest if she pinched them. She rarely showed too much interest to the noisy toys.

This time though, she leaned forward and grabbed tightly a little duck in her fist. Immediately she took it to her mouth and started chewing it.

Derek kissed the top of her head and smiled as he took out of his pocket a tiny box. He opened it and took out the small bracelet he had bought for Morgan. He put it around her wrist under Morgan's curious stare.

Derek smiled at her and stroked her cheek, wrapping his arms around her then and hugging her. In that moment, Derek saw Cujo standing up and felt someone stopping beside their bench. While Cujo went on sniffing that person, Derek looked up and saw one of Morgan's friends, the so-called Really Old Guy.

The old man smiled as he patted Cujo on his head and then, propping himself in his walking stick, he smiled down at Morgan. "Look who we find here."

Morgan looked up at him, having her duck in her mouth, and giggled and didn't pull back when the old man wanted to pinch her cheek. Derek was surprised to see how easily she accepted the pinch. Usually she didn't like the gesture; especially not lately.

"Are we out for a walk with Daddy?" he asked her.

Derek laughed when as answer Morgan lifted her arm and pinched on her bracelet. "We did some shopping too," he explained him in words what she meant.

"Oh, that's a very nice bracelet," the old man complimented her. "Pretty girls like you should wear the prettiest jewelries."

Enough with the compliments, Morgan picked her duck up and went back into her world, just now and then glancing at people around her.

"Her name is…"

"Don't," the old man stopped Derek when he wanted to officially introduce her to him. "I like her being the mysterious girl," he chuckled. "Oh and I am not a stalker or a perv," he added laughing. "I am just a really old guy waiting for the end of his story."

Derek forced a smile at his morbid answer.

"There's also a little boy of her age that comes with his Mommy daily. He is as sweet as she is," he stated smiling at Morgan. "You should try a ride with the ferryboat too. The weather is perfect," he suggested as he started to trail away.

Derek watched him leaving, thoughtful. "How about a ferryboat ride?" he asked Morgan. "Your very first ferryboat ride. But first, let's have some milk."

Derek looked through her bag for the thermos and took the bottle of milk out. He checked the temperature and gave Morgan the bottle. She left her toy and lay in Derek's arms as she started sucking from the bottle and waving her left arm, probably liking the way her bracelet sparkled in the sun.

Derek hugged her even tighter, loving their moment and mostly, loving Morgan. Slowly she seemed to be getting back to being herself. After she had enough milk, Morgan spit the nipple out and, while Derek put the bottle back into the bag, Morgan helped herself up in her sit, clutching on Derek's arm. Derek didn't pay too much attention to her constant movement, but his jaw dropped when he saw her sitting on his lap on her own. She stood for a second or two only and then she fell onto her back, in Derek's arms. Derek laughed, amazed what he had just witnessed.

Derek picked her up and turned her around so that he could look at her. He put her up on her feet, holding her steady. "Did you just stand up in your sit? By yourself?"

Derek kept laughing as Morgan laughed along with him. He stood up and started tossing her up in the air. Morgan laughed at first, but then she started choking. Derek quickly stopped and brought her back into his arms as he realized she had just eaten. As Morgan kept choking, he also felt little spasm against her chest. He turned her around and right in that moment, Morgan threw up part of the milk she had just taken in.

"Oh baby," Derek wiped her mouth and ran small circles onto her back, trying sooth her.

Morgan was just weeping, but the vomiting had given her a very unpleasant mood. Derek cradled her into his arms and started rocking her slowly, making sure that his movements don't disturb her stomach again. A few minutes later, Morgan calmed down.

"Let's go home," Derek kissed her and shifted her on the other side of his arms. "Let's go, Cujo," Derek called as he stood up and looked for the leash. Looking around him, Cujo was nowhere to be seen. "Cujo!" Derek called after him as the dog was nowhere in his sight.

With her stomach still sensitive and alarmed by Derek's stir, Morgan started crying.

"Please, Morgan," Derek put her on his shoulder, gently patting her onto the back. "I promise we'll go home. Let's just see where Cujo is, ok? Cujo!" Derek kept calling the dog.

Morgan pushed herself away from Derek and crying, she looked around her, down where Cujo usually was. Each time she was crying, Cujo was there. She started crying even louder when Cujo was late to show up.

Derek put Morgan back into her stroller. As he strapped her in, Derek noticed her crying was stopping. Her tearing eyes were gazing somewhere over his shoulder. Derek didn't have time to turn and look because like out of nowhere, Cujo showed up panting.

"Where have you been?" Derek scolded him and grabbing his leash. "Bad dog!"

Cujo didn't mind much Derek's rating and went to smell Morgan. Just then, slapping him with both hands, Morgan calmed down. Cujo didn't mind that either. He sat down and breathing loudly looked up at Derek, waiting to see what's next.

Derek shook his head disapprovingly and pulled on the leash making him walk as he pushed the stroller. After a few feet only, Cujo barked and wanted to run from Derek again. Derek saw he was barking to another dog, which was also with its owner; and a police officer.

"Is that your dog?" the old woman, owner of the dog, demanded angrily.

Taken by surprise, Derek nodded.

"And you leave your dog unsupervised?" she shouted at him as she approached.

Thinking about the worst, Derek swallowed a lump. "Please, keep your voice down," he asked politely. "You're scaring the baby."

"I don't give a damn about your baby!" she retorted. "Not after your dog rode my Princess."

"Ma'am, please," the young police officer cut in.

Derek was staring at her, dumbfounded. He didn't know if he should be amused or worried. A police officer was there though.

"If your… Princess," the police officer stopped for a moment, not to laugh, and went on, "If your dog is in heats maybe you shouldn't go out for a walk in a public place where many other dogs are walking."

"But all the other dogs are held in leash by their owner," the woman protested.

The officer raised his hand, refusing to listen more. "Sir, I am afraid I have to give you a fine for leaving your dog unsupervised and out of leash."

"I will pay it," Derek winced as Cujo pulled stronger in attempt of escaping. "But can she please take her princess away from here, because I have a leash ripping my hand."

"Ma'am, you need to leave now," the officer asked.

"Is he going to pay for the abortion?" the woman didn't seem to be leaving soon. She put her hand on her hip, narrowing her eyes and glaring at Derek.

"What?" Derek laughed ironically. "It's not like my son knocked up your daughter. They're just dogs."

The old woman gasped. "I don't know what your tramp dog means to you, but my Princess is like a daughter to me. You have to pay for the abortion."

Derek looked over at the officer, who was as stunned as he was. "Nothing demands him legally to pay for what you ask," the officer tried to explain. "Now please leave before I have to surcharge you too."

"What for? I…"

"Don't," the officer stopped her. "Be wise and leave. Now."

The woman glared at Derek and Cujo and then she huffed and walked away.

Derek still had to leave tightly on Cujo's leave, stopping him from running after Princess. "I am sorry, officer. The baby didn't feel well and I left the leash for a second," Derek went on explaining him the situation but stopped when he saw that the officer was no longer writing.

He was curiously looking down at Morgan. Derek smiled. Morgan had her fingers into her mouth and she was staring up at the police officer.

"Is she…"

"Yes," Derek chuckled.

"This… intensely?"

"Yes," Derek nodded proudly. It was rude; he knew it; but it was something special, something that was describing Morgan already. Besides, being able to hold such an intense stare like she was doing, was proving that Morgan would always have the courage to look into a person's eyes and that was something impressive.

The officer closed his eyes and shook his head, just then being able to look away.

"She doesn't stare all the time," Derek lied. "She only stares when she meets people she likes."

"Really?" the officer chuckled and Derek could tell he had impressed him with that. The officer knelt in front of Morgan. "You're a very pretty girl. What's your name?"

"Morgan," Derek answered for her.

"Morgan," the officer took her hand and shook it lightly. Surprisingly, Morgan let him do it without complaining. She liked the guy for real. "My name is Steve. I have a little boy too. How old is she?" he asked Derek.

"She's six month old," Derek answered.

"Oh so you're also the same age with my boy. Maybe you know him. He comes with his Mommy here a lot."

"Maybe," Derek shrugged. Then he remembered what the Really Old Guy had said. "Maybe you know the really… the old man that walks in park? I mean, I know a lot of old men walk around here, but he's… I don't know. A really nice old guy."

Steve chuckled and nodded knowingly. "He's a little strange. I am still trying to find out his name."

"He looks like a very nice man," Derek didn't like the distrust Steve was showing to Morgan's friend.

"I am sure he is," he chuckled. "I am still a cop. It's a professional defect, I guess." Steve put the notepad and the pen back into the pocket of his jacket and gave a look around him. "I will forgive you this time, but please be more careful next time with the dog."

"Thank you," Derek sighed with relief and smiled gratefully.

"I am on duty. I just stopped to see my wife and my son, but I have to go back to work now. Have a nice day, Mr…?" he held out his hand.

"Derek," Derek shook his hand.

"Derek," Steve smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Morgan," he also waved to Morgan. "I hope I will see you around."

Derek watched Steve leaving and knelt beside the stroller. "You're wonderful," he smiled at Morgan and leaned forward kissing her. "Thank you."

Morgan giggled and threw a fist in the air. In that moment, her bracelet sparkled and she remembered she had it and started playing with it. "You should thank her too," Derek told Cujo. Cujo barked and stood up as Derek stood up as well and pushed the stroller. "Let's take a ferryboat ride and then we go home for lunch."


	34. Chapter 34

Morgan didn't make it awake to the ferry deck. Despite this, Derek went on with his plan and pulled the car on the ferryboat. He carefully put Morgan in her stroller and she didn't flinch an inch. Then he took Cujo's leash and headed up on the deck as they waited for the ferryboat to take off.

Derek sat down on a bench and pulled the stroller in front of him while Cujo lay down at his feet. He briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the warm air. Derek got comfortable on the bench, tucked his jacket around him and smiled as he watched Morgan's peaceful sleep. She looked adorable with her face turned to a side, pouted and nestling her fist under her chin. Derek bent to her and drew the blanket upper over her body. "You're missing an awesome ride, Baby Morgan," he quietly spoke to her as he ran his finger over her cheek.

Only when the ferry started moving, Morgan felt disturbed and sighed. Derek couldn't see much landscape from the place they were, but he still enjoyed the ride as he listened to the sound of the water and the shriek of the seagulls. He knew he should be thinking of a way to propose Meredith, but no scenario came into his mind, so he decided to just enjoy the moment.

Derek took another deep breath and looked around. He caught the glimpse of an old man, who looked away when their eyes met. He was sitting on a bench across from Derek. Derek just smiled as it wasn't the first time he saw people staring at him and Morgan. He did have a very charming baby girl after all. The man didn't return the smile and looked away as if he was afraid of having his identity revealed. Derek didn't pay any attention to him. Morgan sleepily moaned and then sighed loudly, so Derek was watching her again to see if she would wake up. But Morgan turned her face to the other side and nestled her fist under her chin again, sighing as she kept on sleeping.

Watching Morgan, Derek still could feel that man's stare. He quickly looked up and caught him staring again. This time, the man didn't look away right away and held Derek's questioning gaze. This time, he was sure that wasn't one of the friendly stares he and Morgan had been used to during the day. Then he remembered what Claudia had told him about the strange man that came looking for Meredith and which she saw watching the house from his car. It was Derek's turn to stare. He didn't find any resemblance with Meredith but he has sure that man was Thatcher Grey, Meredith's father. He had no doubt of it, so he stood up, immediately followed by Cujo, and pushed the stroller towards the opposite side of the deck.

Derek smiled when Thatcher Grey curiously glanced at him. Derek sat down next to him and, same as before, he pulled the stroller in front of him and Cujo sat down at his feet. "Hi," he smiled genuinely at the man.

Looking at the stroller – as Morgan was well covered inside- and then at Derek, Thatcher Grey nodded his head.

None of them said anything. Derek did what he had done so far and just waited for Thatcher to start first. Maybe he needed introduction, but not Morgan or Cujo, so Thatcher knew who they were.

"You know who I am," Thatcher muttered after a while as he looked opposed from Derek. He turned and looked at him as he waited for the answer.

Derek smiled and nodded his head. "You're Meredith's father."

Thatcher nodded and watched the stroller for a moment. "That's Morgan."

"Yes,"

"How old is she?" Thatcher asked then, still watching the stroller.

"6 month and nearly 2 weeks old," Derek answered.

Thatcher smiled at him. "She's growing too fast, doesn't she?"

Derek agreed with a nod. Thatcher was starting talking about babies and Derek found it odd as he knew already Meredith's story as child. He didn't say anything and let Thatcher build the conversation, curious to see where they were heading with.

"One day you change their diaper and the next day they tell you it's time for them to go to college," Thatcher chuckled, looking as if he was remembering those times.

He was definitely not talking about Meredith in this case, Derek thought. "You need to stop doing this," he said, straight.

Taken by surprise with those words, Thatcher looked troubled. "Doing what?"

"The stalking," Derek answered. "You came into discussion and Meredith decided to pay you a visit. Since then, neither of you have done anything. Because the stalking is considered as nothing," he pointed out. "Is there something you want to tell her?" Derek asked him, again getting directly to the point.

"I…" Thatcher couldn't find the answer. "I just…. I don't know."

"You need to know. Or stop stalking her," Derek demanded, but still talking calmly and softly. "She was curious to see you and now she feels ashamed. She shouldn't have been the one to come and see you. You left her."

Though his words were starting to sound more as a reproach, Thatcher didn't seem to mind it. He smiled briefly and nodded. "I just don't know what to say to her," he shrugged and looked questioningly at Derek as if Derek could have helped him with that.

"I don't know either, because I wasn't the one who abandoned her," this time, his voice was harsher.

Thatcher smiled and didn't get any offense this time either. "How is she?" he asked hesitantly.

"Meredith?"

Thatcher nodded. "What kind of person is she?"

Derek smiled and looked over at Morgan. "She's an extraordinary mother. I don't know what kind of person she was before Morgan, but know she's an extraordinary mother… as person. She puts her baby before anything else. Even before me," he added with a chuckle. "But I don't mind it at all. That's how it's supposed to be. She's an excellent doctor; actually, an excellent soon-to-be surgeon, as she's a resident still. She freaks out easily but she always finds a way out. She's decent, caring with her patients and people around her. She's an excellent grown-up," he ended.

Thatcher was staring at his hands as Derek talked about Meredith and Derek could read some hurt in his eyes.

"You're her husband?" Thatcher asked quietly, glancing at him.

"No," Derek answered in the same manner. "Not yet," he added, muttering.

Thatcher nodded thoughtfully. Maybe he hadn't expected to find his first born already a parent and into a serious relationship. From there, the silence took over as none of them knew what was left to say. Derek certainly didn't have anything to add to their discussion and Thatcher still didn't seem to know what to say.

Cujo stood up when Morgan started fussing in the stroller and let Derek know he had to take her into his arms.

"You're up on time. You can still see the ferryboat," Derek talked to her and kissed her on the forehead and cradled her into his arms. Morgan still held a frown on her forehead, but she put her thumb into her mouth and sleepily watched Derek.

"She's pretty," Thatcher smiled at her.

"Huh," Derek laughed sarcastically, offended with such a low term as 'nice'. He wanted to retort, but then he realized that would have been a little too inappropriate. He laughed and nodded.

Hearing an unknown voice and being laid in Derek's arms, Morgan started fussing and struggled to stand up and see that person. Derek helped her up and also wiped her chin. Morgan fixed a stare on Thatcher immediately and stuffed her fingers into her mouth. She wasn't sure if she had seen that man before, but she definitely had not seen him today, so she held a deep stare on him, analyzing him and not noticing just yet that she was sailing.

"She's teething," Thatcher noticed.

"She is," Derek nodded.

Thatcher smiled at Morgan and raised his hand as if he wanted to touch her, but he changed his mind and let it drop on his lap. "She doesn't look much like her mother. She looks more like you," he stated, looking up at Derek.

Derek had a huge smile on his face in an instant. He needed to get used to those words as Morgan was his daughter already and soon he was going to talk to Meredith about making it legal.

"Can I hold her?" Thatcher asked sheepishly.

"Yes," Derek nodded and picked Morgan up to hand her to her grandfather.

Before Thatcher could even touch her, Morgan started crying and Cujo started barking at him, both in the same time.

Derek quickly brought her back into his arm and tried to calm her down, unable to understand the reason for such a reaction. Cujo stopped from barking and came at Derek's side, but still growling at Thatcher.

"He's overprotective," Derek tried to justify the reaction to Thatcher, although it was obvious that Morgan didn't like Thatcher either.

Thatcher nervously smiled, also understanding what was really going on. "That's ok. It's good that he takes care of her."

"Yes," Derek answered awkwardly. "He's a good dog." Morgan clutched on Derek's jacket, whimpering as she suck her thumb and hid her face away from Thatcher. Derek gently rubbed onto her back and kissed the top of her head. "Sometimes she's cranky after a nap; especially if doesn't sleep enough." That was a poor excuse and both of them knew it.

Thatcher smiled and nodded. "I know how it is," he wanted to sound ok with it. He stood up and tucked his hands into his pockets as he turned to Derek. "I… it was nice meeting you," he stammered.

Derek held out his hand as he introduced himself, "Derek Shepherd."

"Derek," Thatcher briefly shook his hand and glanced at Morgan one last time before he turned and walked away.

Morgan turned her head and looked beside Derek, where she had last seen Thatcher. As he was gone already, Morgan looked up at Derek and smiled.

Derek chuckled and kissed her forehead. Then he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly to his chest. "I don't think I like this man either," he sighed. "Let's go inside because we'll soon get home," he told her and stood up, taking the stroller and Cujo's leash.

----------

Later that day, when Meredith came home from the hospital, Cujo was already by the door cheerfully greeting her. Meredith laughed and knelt down at his level, playing with him for a while. Only when Cujo ran from her, Meredith noticed how quiet the house was and how only the dog had come to greet her. As she walked inside, she saw the lights were on all over the place, but the place was strangely quiet.

"Derek?" she called as she walked into the living room. Meredith froze in the doorway at the sight of the room; a dim light, the table was set for dinner with plates, glasses, floral arrangements and candles. Meredith raised her brows, curious. "Derek?" she called louder this time, but there was no sound of Derek. "Cujo!" she called the dog and he came running right away.

"Where's everybody?" she asked him.

Cujo was pushing his body against her legs, showing a great mood for playing. At least he wasn't worried, Meredith tried to comfort herself, but she still needed to know where Morgan and Derek were.

She took her jacket off and went upstairs. As she reached the top of the stairs, Meredith sighed with relief. She could hear Morgan in her room and probably Derek was there caught with her and he hadn't heard Meredith.

Cujo ran past her and entered the room before her. Meredith followed him closely and, as she looked up at the bed, she gasped. Derek was sleeping in the middle of the bed, laid on his stomach, while Morgan was rolled onto her side, grabbing handful locks of his hair and pulling them.

Meredith would have found the scene funny and cute if Morgan hadn't been alone, unsupervised and sitting at the edge of the bed without nothing to block an eventual fall from the bed. Cujo was sitting down at Morgan's side of bed, so he would have been a very soft pillow to land on, but that didn't comfort Meredith. She hurried to take Morgan, but the baby was holding tightly on Derek's hair and refusing to let him go.

Derek flinched at the pain and woke up, sleepily reaching for Morgan and without being aware of Meredith's presence in the room.

Morgan started complaining as her Mommy took her from what it seemed to be a fun activity for her and she was now fussing in her arms, leaning over and asking to go back to Derek. Meredith didn't agree with her and threw a pillow in Derek.

Hit like out of nowhere, Derek became more aware and just then he saw Meredith sitting by the bed and glaring at him. "Hey," he greeted her, confused.

"Don't hey me, Derek!" Meredith snapped at him. "Is this how you take care of Morgan?"

"What?" Derek was trying to wake up completely and wrap his mind around what was happening. Then it hit him. Derek caught the second pillow before it hit him and, looking confused at Meredith, he started remembering. "Did I fall asleep?" he asked her.

Meredith shook her head disapprovingly and turned to leave the room.

As Morgan was still sounding displeased with the interruption, Derek thought something had happened to her because of his negligence. "Is she alright?" he asked, suddenly panicked, and hurried to her side.

Meredith stopped and glared at him. "She's alright and that's thanks to me because I came home in time. You left her at the edge of the bed, awake, while you were sleeping!"

"I am sorry," Derek apologized sincerely. "But she was asleep and I watched her sleeping… I think I fell asleep too."

"You think," Meredith muttered, rolling her eyes.

Derek sighed. He was in big trouble now. "Meredith," he pleadingly stopped her. "I am sorry. I really am." Then he froze as he remembered, "Damn! I forgot about the bief," he muttered under his breath. "I put it into the oven but I forgot to turn it on."

"I should thank you for that in this case," Meredith retorted. "Imagine not only letting Morgan unsupervised, but also the fire."

"This isn't how I wanted this evening to take place," Derek sighed, truly disappointed with himself.

Meredith sighed too and decided to give in a little. After all, Derek was very responsible with Morgan and luckily nothing had happened to her after this incident. Besides, Derek seemed to have planned a special dinner for them.

"What are we celebrating?" she asked him. "And it'd better not have anything to do with Mark," she added with a smile, letting him know he was about to be forgiven.

Derek smiled and shook his head. "We're not celebrating anything. It's just… a family dinner," he shrugged matter-of-factly. "In my plan, Morgan was supposed to be sleeping at this point though," he chuckled.

Meredith giggled and ran her fingers through his raveled hair. "Nothing went right with your plan as I can see."

Morgan watched what her mommy had done, so she wanted to do the same. She whimpered as she held her hand out but she couldn't reach to his hair. Meredith lifted her a little and helped her, so Morgan grabbed a handful lock of Derek's hair.

"Ouch," Derek winced and pulled away from the grip. "I know I have lovely hair, but please keep the fans away from it," he laughed.

Meredith laughed too and took Morgan's hand, kissing it. "You'd want to check your hair before doing anything else." She smiled at him and turned, heading to the bathroom.

Meredith had left Morgan in her crib while she took a shower and Derek finished their dinner. Derek had asked her to wear something nice for dinner, suggesting a dress would be the best choice.

Meredith didn't have many dresses as she rarely wore one, but she did find the dress she had worn for their first date; a black gown, simple but yet elegant. She decided to go without shoes as they were going to have dinner indoors, in their home. She let her hair free and just brushed it a little before she was done with the wardrobe.

Meredith went to check on her daughter. As she walked into the room, Meredith started giggling. Cujo was having his two front paws propped against the crib's bars, sniffing Morgan's hand as she was there playing with him. Meredith had no doubt that she had made the right decision when she adopted Cujo as friend for Morgan. She could see him already as Morgan's shadow.

Cujo felt her presence there, so he looked back and ran to her, also in the mood of playing with Meredith. Meredith laughed as she played with him and Cujo kissed her. She walked over to Morgan's crib, still playing with Cujo, and looked up to take Morgan. Meredith didn't do or say anything and just watched Morgan, not believing what she was doing.

Morgan rolled onto her stomach, then onto her side and then she struggled to stand up in her sit. Meredith was staring at her, amazed. Morgan was finally up, so she put a finger into her mouth and smiled at her Mommy. In that moment, she fell onto her back again and started whimpering as Meredith laughed.

Meredith took her into her arms and kissed her. "I wasn't laughing at you, I swear." Morgan put her thumb into her mouth, her head down on Meredith's shoulder and pouted while Meredith carried her to the table to change her clothes.

Meredith decided to have Morgan wearing something nice for dinner also, so she chose to dress her with a blue dress. While she was dressing her, Meredith noticed how much Morgan had grown; her legs seemed longer, as well as the rest of her body. Of course none would have noticed the change as easily, as Meredith and Izzie had made sure she would have a fitting wardrobe until the age of 2. She sighed as she picked her daughter into her arms and hugged her. She didn't know if she should feel happy to see her daughter growing up so fast; the thought of Baby Morgan not being her baby anymore one day was saddening her.

Morgan forgave her mommy for laughing at her earlier, so she pushed back to look at her and cheerfully slapped her with both palms. Meredith laughed and leaned in, kissing her cheek. Morgan giggled and nestled closer to her mother's neck.

In the meantime, Derek tried to finish the dinner faster. His plan didn't seem to go very well so far. He could not believe he had fallen asleep and left the dinner uncooked. He made sure that the oven was on and then hurried to make Morgan something to eat. He also had to take care of the wine, the snacks before the stick and before finding the right words to use for asking Meredith to marry him. The last one was the one he was thinking less.

Derek set Morgan's highchair at the table as well. As Morgan didn't want to comply and go to sleep, as Derek had planned, Meredith wasn't going to let her alone. He had just finished setting it when he heard Meredith and Morgan coming downstairs. Cujo was the first one to enter the room and ran straight to the table, jumping up and propping his paws against the table, sniffing what was on it.

"Cujo," Derek hissed angrily as he saw him. Cujo didn't mind and stood down, cheerfully waggling his tail.

Meredith and Morgan were sounding closer to the room, so Derek hurried to finish what he was doing and go greeting them.

"Here are my girls," he smiled as he walked to them. He put an arm around Meredith and kissed Morgan. He wanted to take Morgan from Meredith and spoil her with a couple of kisses, but Morgan anticipated his intention and clutched quickly on her mommy and whimpered, refusing to let her go.

Meredith giggled and smirked at him. Derek felt a little disappointed and tried to understand what was wrong with Morgan. As far as he knew, Morgan never chose anyone over him.

"I think this is because you neglected her," Meredith explained. She kissed her baby again and walked past Derek, crossing the dining room and stopping by the table. The light was even dimmer than it was when she came home, and Derek had lightened some candles too.

Derek got quickly over Meredith's comment and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling through her hair. Morgan quickly showed up in his view as she wanted to check what he was doing to her Mommy. Derek laughed and pinched her cheek. Morgan giggled and played shy as she hid her face against Meredith's other side of the neck. After all, the evening seemed to go even better than in his plans, Derek noticed as he hugged Meredith tighter and listened to Morgan's playful giggle.

Meredith leaned against him and put her hand over his. "My spirit really loves this, but my stomach has other expectations," she said and giggled.

Derek kissed her cheek and reluctantly pulled back. "Dinner should be ready in about 10 minutes. Go and sit down while I bring some snack and Morgan's dinner." He walked over to the table and pulled a chair out for her. He wanted to take Morgan and put her in her highchair, but both mother and daughter protested at his gesture, so Derek defensively stepped back. "She was in love with me this morning," he complained.

Meredith laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "And don't you think it's fair to have her in love with me too?"

Derek acted displeased, but smiled in the end. "I think I am ok with sharing her with you."

"Oh thank you," Meredith giggled. "Besides, you think you can buy her with a bracelet only?" she added cheerfully, waving Morgan's wrist at him. "You shouldn't have," she said, a little bit more serious.

Derek just smiled at them. "Because she's a big girl now, I made some chicken for her for dinner," he smiled proudly before he turned and walked into the kitchen.

"She's a big girl indeed," Meredith agreed, talking louder so that Derek could hear her. She smiled down at Morgan and ran the back of her hand across her soft cheek.

Morgan looked out for Meredith's fingers and soon she had one in her mouth, chewing it. Then, for the first time, Meredith felt a light sharp against her finger; those were Morgan's first teeth. As she realized that, Meredith couldn't hold back her tears and soon she was both tearing and laughing, bouncing Morgan on her knees. "You're such a big girl already," she said to Morgan and pressed a strong kiss on her cheek.

Morgan stopped from chewing her mommy's finger for a moment as she gave her one of her first under-eyelids looks.

Meredith laughed at her look and kissed her again. She wiped her eyes before she stood up and took her to her high-chair, putting her in it. "You know what she just did?" Meredith asked louder so that Derek could hear her.

Derek walked back in the dining room as he brought with him Morgan's bowl. "What did I miss?" he asked, looking at Morgan with a smile.

"I let her in her crib while I changed my clothes and when I came back, she was trying to stand up in her sit. And guess what?" she smirked.

Derek could have taken a guess easily as he had seen her already, but something told him he shouldn't ruin Meredith's excitement. "She didn't!" he faked a surprised gasp.

Meredith smiled and nodded proudly. "She could hold herself up for a second only, but that's a start. I know that probably she has been secretly practicing this for a while now, but it's just… so…"

"Unique to be the first one to see her," Derek smiled at her.

"Yes," Meredith smiled.

Though he knew it was wrong, Derek felt jealous. He wanted to tell Meredith that he had been the first one that saw Morgan's first standing in her sit as he was sure that Meredith would start bragging about it all over the hospital, but then he knew how important it was to Meredith to have a strong relationship with her daughter. So he backed out the jealousy and smiled at them as he put the bowl on the table.

"I guess this deserve celebration. Right, Morgan?" he cooed at the baby and then smiled at Meredith before he walked back into kitchen. "I will bring the rest right away."

Dinner started, but despite other times, when Morgan was squealing at the sight of her bowl, tonight, something else had her attention. The light of the candle she saw down on the table seemed to have charmed her as the only thing she was doing was staring at it while Meredith tried to make her eat.

Meredith let out a sigh of exasperation and looked puzzled at Derek. Derek though noticed what was distracting Morgan from eating. He leaned over the table and blew off the candle light.

Morgan stirred like coming out from under a spell. She looked back and forth at Meredith and Derek as if she was trying to understand where the light had gone. But as she looked at Derek again, there was another candle. Derek hurried to take care of that one as well and so the room was almost dark now.

Derek grumbled something under his breath about how babies should be in bed at this hour, while he stood up and went to turn the lights on.

Morgan blinked quickly at the strong light and squealed as she spotted her bowl right in front of her. Meredith smiled apologetically at Derek.

Derek nodded reassuringly and chuckled as he stated, "She's too little for candle lights and flowers under the moonlight."

Meredith giggled and nodded as she finally managed to put some food in Morgan's mouth. "Although," she sighed. "I don't think she will be too little for it soon."

"Oh she will," Derek wanted to reassure her, sounding like a father whose daughter wouldn't be allowed to see boys until her early 30's.

Meredith went thoughtful as she fed Morgan and now and then took bites from her own. "I need to clean up the house. Massive cleaning," she stated thoughtfully.

Derek didn't understand at first why and said, "The house looks clean to me."

Meredith glared at him and shook her head, disapproving. "She will be crawling soon, Derek," she pointed out. "She will start crawling and she will be all over the place. The floor needs to be impeccable and germfree. We have to leave the street shoes by the door and wear slippers inside. Puffy slipper even," she mused and became thoughtful for a moment. "Not puffy," she concluded. "If they're puffy, Morgan might want to chew them or they might leave puff on the carpet. No. Not puffy slippers. Regular slippers." She was quiet again and then looked at Derek. "Do you think we should wear slippers or clean socks will be the best?"

Derek burst into laugh after he had listened to her. He soon stopped as Meredith was already shooting glares at him. "She's not a dog, Meredith. I mean, Cujo could eat the slippers, but not Morgan. She's a little princess though."

"You'd better not be mocking me," Meredith glared at him.

Derek took no offense in that and chuckled. "I am not. I think the slippers would be the right option."

Meredith nodded thoughtfully and Derek was sure she would bring something else up. "We need to do something about the furniture. Some of it has sharp edges and I can't have Morgan bumping against them. Then there are the carpets. We should change the carpets too and put softer ones."

"You're right," Derek nodded, trying to act as serious as her, though her thoughtful frown looked so funny to him. Besides, Meredith had forgotten to feed Morgan, so Morgan was serving herself like a big girl, applying food on her face and her nice dress.

"We should also be more careful with the small objects. They need to stay out of her reach," Meredith continued.

"Meredith," Derek said calmly as he set his fork down and smiled at her. "We'll take whatever it needs to make this a safe place for Morgan. Mom reminded me of it also. I promise we'll take care of it right away. After tonight," he added in the end, as it was out of the question arranging the house for Morgan precisely that evening when he had other big plans.

But Derek noticed that Meredith was absent-minded as she stuffed another teaspoon of food in Morgan's already full mouth. He shook his head and stood up, coming to take the teaspoon out of Meredith's hand and wipe Morgan's mouth. Meredith didn't look bothered by that, but something was going on with her as she let out a loud sigh.

"What is it?" Derek asked her.

"This house is old," Meredith stated quietly, looking at him. "There's a musty air in it and everything about it can be dangerous to Morgan. I can't raise her in this house."

Derek nodded as he tried to take her words in.

"And I can't change much about it because it isn't my house," Meredith continued. "It's my mother's house," the last words sounded like a whimper. "I think I need to find a new place for me and my daughter. I mean… I can't leave in my mother's house forever." With that, she became thoughtful again.

Derek smiled discreetly. Something could be arranged and it could match perfectly with his plans also. He smiled at Morgan, thoughtful, while Morgan fed herself from the bowl.

Of course she didn't have perfect coordination in her movements yet and some of the full fists didn't reach to her mouth. This time she managed to put it in her eyes. In that moment, she started screaming as the sensation of food in the eye wasn't a comfortable and pleasant one.

Both grown-ups stirred and came out of their thoughts. Derek was the one that picked her up and wipe her face and cleaned her eye. "My silly girl," he laughed and kissed her, feeling the taste of chicken and rice on her cheek.

"What do you think of an apartment?" Meredith asked him.

"An apartment sounds good, but…"

"An apartment is smaller, easier to clean and it doesn't have many stairs," Meredith continued, mostly talking to herself and not noticing that Derek had something to add. "Oh and you can move in with us too," she smiled widely at him. A smile lit up her face. "A place of our own."

"Yes, but I have a better idea," Derek said.

Meredith nodded, interested in hearing another suggestion.

"I have my land," he said.

Meredith was staring at him now. Of course he wasn't talking about living in his trailer. "You want to build a house on your land," she concluded quietly.

"We can choose to build a small house. The place is perfect for raising a baby. And a dog," he stated with excitement, hoping he would pass it to Meredith too.

Meredith didn't look so thrilled with his idea and Derek didn't like that. Morgan burped as she kept whimpering quietly and Derek patted her onto the back while he watched Meredith.

"Meredith," Derek said with a sigh.

"No. It's just that…" Meredith started stammering. "An apartment would be… ours, but your land… is your land. Yours."

Derek smiled reassuringly. "My land is your land too. Same as the trailer."

"No," Meredith shook her head. "You don't understand."

"Meredith, you're sharing Morgan with me so let me share my land and my house with you."

"We're sharing Morgan," Meredith agreed. "But not legally."

Derek was a little confused. What was really bothering Meredith? He knew his arrangement with Meredith and Morgan wasn't a perfect one; that was why he even wanted to make it official. Was Meredith ready for another big step? His heart started racing inside his chest with excitement. This was the right time to propose her.

"Just to make it sure… We're talking about legality here?"

Meredith hesitated a little before she nodded.

A wide smile broke on Derek's face at Meredith's answer and started laughing. He took his hand to his pocket, but Morgan stopped whimpering and burped again. Derek patted her, frowning a little at her burps. Morgan burped again and this time, yellow, stinky spill threw up from her mouth.

"Morgan!" Meredith gasped as she saw her baby vomiting, and took her from Derek.

Derek made a grimace as he looked down at the stain on his tuxedo and grabbed a napkin from the table to wipe his clothes. In the meantime, Meredith wiped Morgan's mouth, worryingly watching Morgan's condition.

Morgan felt much better now as she was even smiling at her mommy.

"Why did she throw up?" Meredith asked Derek, still worried. "That's not normal."

Derek was a little pissed with the incident. He had tried to find the right way to propose Meredith all day and at this point, there still there was no opportunity. "It's maybe because you stuffed her with food," he grumbled.

"I did not," Meredith frowned. "What if she has something serious to her stomach? What diseases can babies have to cause vomiting?" she asked. She became panicked as she realized she couldn't answer to such an easy question though she was a doctor.

Derek saw she was freaking out like she always did when something looked even slightly wrong with Morgan. "She's fine, Meredith. You just gave her too much food at once and she didn't have time to swallow everything."

"That's not true," Meredith frowned, not liking to be found guilty for Morgan's little indigestion.

Derek groaned inside his head and smiled apologetically, "Or maybe I patted her too hard on the back."

Meredith narrowed her eyes in a glare, she shook her head and then she sighed and dropped on the frown. Derek knew very well how to help Morgan with her burps, so it was obvious that it was her own fault. "I am sorry," she said quietly. "I just have so many things on my mind."

Derek nodded reassuringly. "Go and change her from her clothes," he suggested. "I don't think we'll continue the dinner."

Meredith sighed as she looked pitifully at table. "I am sorry. I am not really hungry anymore."

"Me neither," Derek leaned in and kissed her temple, and then he leaned to Morgan and kissed her as well. "I will clean here in the meantime."

Meredith took Morgan upstairs and took off her clothes and gave her a quick bath. They were in their favorite spot, the rocking chair, when minutes later Derek walked into the room, carrying two cups in his hands.

Meredith smiled questioningly as she looked at the cups.

"Chocolate mousse," he smirked as he walked up to them. "How is she?" he asked, looking down at Morgan and kneeling in front of them.

Meredith was rocking her slowly into her arms and Morgan was giving signs of tiredness. She was still alert enough to notice Derek and giggle at him, reaching with a hand for him. Derek loved having her attention, so he put one cup on the table beside the rocking chair to free one hand and kiss Morgan's hand. Morgan giggled delightfully and pulled her hand back, playing shy with him.

"She has the most adorable cheeks," Derek giggled, looking up at Meredith.

"I know," Meredith giggled too. She shifted Morgan closer to her and stated, "She's a lot heavier now."

"I noticed that too," Derek nodded. "Do you remember how small and skinny she was?"

"I do. Especially after I couldn't breast feed her," Meredith remembered, rolling her eyes dramatically. "What times," she sighed with a smile.

"And she's only six months old," Derek pointed out.

"I know," Meredith giggled. "I will miss having her as baby."

"Babies have their own cuteness," Derek agreed. "But I don't know why I have this feeling that our Morgan will have more cuteness as she grows."

Meredith just smiled at him. She always felt warm inside her chest when she heard Derek talking about Morgan or when he saw him just holding her.

"Try this," Derek said to Meredith as he took a full teaspoon of chocolate mousse and brought it to her mouth.

Meredith took it all inside and Derek took it out clean. "Hmm. Impressive," Meredith giggled.

"I bought it, actually," Derek chuckled.

"Still impressive," she laughed and leaned forward, asking for more. "If I couldn't enjoy the dinner…"

Laid onto her mother's arms, Morgan watched with a frown how the grown-ups were eating. She had enjoyed her dinner and she would have liked some dessert too. Morgan started fussing, struggling to stand up and serve herself from that delicious dessert.

Meredith didn't know the reason for Morgan's whimper, so she lifted her upright and held her on her lap. Just then, being closer to the cup, Morgan leaned forward and slapped its content, giggling delightfully as she felt the soft texture of the dessert.

Meredith couldn't react in time, so Morgan also had the chance to taste for the first time the chocolate.

"Morgan," Meredith softly scolded her and reached for a napkin to clean her hand and mouth. "That's why you throw up all the time. This is junk for you."

"I think we should be more careful with her nutrition," Derek concluded. He stood up and put the cup beside the other on the table, so it wouldn't attempt Morgan.

Meredith sighed as she nodded. "With all those things happening lately, her meals schedule messed up."

"Luckily, Claudia will be back tomorrow and we can go back to our daily routine," Derek said. "I had an excellent day today with her," he smiled smugly. "We walked in the park, we met with our friend, the Really Old Guy…"

"Derek," Meredith giggled. "We should stop calling him this way. It's kind of rude."

"It's a nice, inoffensive nickname and apparently, we are not the only ones that call him like this," Derek told her, remembering their meeting with the police officer, Steve. "There's a police officer that knows him. And apparently, this guy Steve has a son, close to Morgan's age."

Meredith looked up at him with a funny look. "What are you a pimp now?"

"No," Derek shook his head. "But I think I like it that his father is a cop."

"Oh Derek," Meredith groaned. "What about no flowers and candle lights under the moonlight until her 30's?"

"Oh do you think I am talking about relationship? No. She will just have a playground buddy."

"Ok, let's end this conversation here," Meredith shook her head, not liking so much the topic. "We have other plans to make, such as cleaning the house, buying stuff she might need for when she will start walking, potty and other things like these."

Derek had a wide smile on his face again. That was another perfect opportunity of asking Meredith to marry him. Morgan was calm, even cheerful, Meredith didn't look as stressed as before and he had the ring in his pocket.

Derek knelt in front the chair, cradling her knees between his hands. Meredith smiled at him and rubbed the back of her hand against his soft, beard-free cheek.

Derek put his hand over hers and kissed it. "I want you with me for the rest of my life."

Tears started threatening her eyes as Derek said those words, though she didn't even suspect what Derek was doing.

Caressing each of her fingers, Derek looked into her eyes. "We can talk some other time about moving on my land. Maybe you don't like that place, being so… isolated and I…" he put a finger against her lips as she wanted to say something. "I wouldn't mind if you don't like it. I wouldn't like it either if I have to live there without you and Morgan. And I don't think your mother has anything against us living in her house. She might not say it aloud, but she's head over heels for her granddaughter."

Meredith admitted it too with a nod.

"Now, if you don't like it here either, then we can find a place of our own," Derek continued.

She smiled and she intertwined her fingers with his. "That's why I love you," she stated with a wide smile as she looked into his eyes. "You're very patient with me. I am kind of a wreck and I do things slower than other people. I mean slower… slower steps into a relationship."

Derek's smile froze. That wasn't how it was supposed to go his proposal.

"Is something wrong?" Meredith noticed the change on his face.

Derek took a deep breath and didn't let her go of her hand. "What if I ask you for a bigger step? Will you trust me and make it with me?"

Meredith was confused with the question. A little she did suspect, but she didn't dare to think about it.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her, softly and patiently.

Meredith nodded her head. "I do."

"Ok," Derek smiled. He let go of her hand and put his hand into his pocket. He took out a small box and opened it as he showed it to her. "Will you marry me?"

Her breath caught into her throat as she gazed at the ring. She did trust him, she kept telling herself. She did trust him.

"I do trust you," Meredith said quietly, still holding her gaze on the ring.

Derek smiled and swiftly took the ring out of the box. He took Meredith's left hand and lingered with the ring at the tip of the finger. "I don't want you to freak out over this. I don't want you to give me the ring back tomorrow. We will set the date when you want. I will wait as long as you need. But this ring is another step in our relationship. The next one will probably be the moving in our own house and then the wedding. Then another baby." Derek grinned as he added the last part.

"Derek."

"I know, you don't want other babies," Derek smiled reassuringly. "I know what you said about this. Time will tell if you will change your mind."

"Derek."

Derek slid the ring on her finger, fitting perfectly. He squeezed her hand and then kissed it. "Morgan helped me find it," he said, smiling at her.

"And you rewarded her with a bracelet," Meredith giggled.

"I will be an exemplary daddy," Derek smirked. He took a deep breath and asked, "It would be too much if we talk about adoption?"

Meredith smiled and nodded a yes. "I am not planning on going and finding Daddies for my baby," she stated. "She found him herself when she came out."

Derek stood up, cupped her face and kissed her softly on the lips. Then he knelt in front of her again, holding her hands and still smiling. "I know that we've known each other for a few months only, but I can't imagine my life with you two. It's been a few months only, but my life feels more complete than ever."

"I know," Meredith spoke sheepishly. "I feel the same."

Morgan yawned loudly, letting them know she was enjoying their moment, but a good night sleep was preferred.

Derek took Morgan from Meredith and gave her a big hug and several kisses before he handed her back to her mother. "Sleep well, Morgan. I will take the dessert to our room," he told Meredith with a smirk.

"Ok," Meredith giggled.

Left alone in the bedroom, Meredith rocked slowly in the chair and watched Morgan drifting to sleep. "I do trust him," she told herself.


	35. Chapter 35

It wasn't light outside yet when Meredith woke up the next day. She lie there, moved-still, in Derek's arms, with her left hand down on the pillow in front of her. At this point, she was over the 'I do trust him' phase. She was feeling more confident now, hours later since the proposal, as she had more time to wrap her mind what she had just accepted to do; get married.

It wasn't hard to imagine her life beside him anymore; that's how her life had been during the past months and if it would go on like that, then she had absolutely no reason of freaking out. It was a huge commitment though as Meredith had never had a serious relationship until Derek. Meredith also had never had children until Morgan and that seemed to be a quite pleasant commitment, not so easy though.

She hadn't heard him waking up, so she stirred a little when Derek put his hand over hers and intertwined their fingers. He leaned forward and traced kisses from her jaw down to bare shoulder. "That's a very nice piece of jewelry," he moaned against her ear.

Meredith giggled and shivered at the sensation of his warm breath against her skin. "An admirer gave it to me," she replied teasingly.

"Hmm. He has great taste," Derek played along with her.

"He does have."

"I wanted to buy an identical one for my girlfriend."

Meredith giggled and rolled into his arms. "I won't give her mine."

Derek smiled as brushed the hair out of her face and stroked her cheek. "I don't think she would like a second-hand ring." He propped his head up on his hand and couldn't help but smile as he looked down at Meredith. His hand left soft traces across her skin as he caressed her collar, her chest and her shoulders.

Meredith scooted closer to his chest and slowly her fingers ran across his chest. "I talked to Mark yesterday," she said quietly, not looking at him. She could feel his questioning gaze on her though.

Derek didn't know how to react to that; what to say or ask.

"Do you want to know what we talked about?" she asked, glancing up at him.

Derek ran the back of his hand against her cheek and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Only if you want to tell me."

Meredith nodded and rolled onto her back. She tucked the sheets around her body and looked for their fingers to intertwine again before she said, "He said 'Hello, Meredith' and I said, 'Hi'. Then, he said… 'Good bye, Meredith' and I said, 'Bye'."

Derek kissed their fingers and asked her, "How was it?"

Meredith shrugged. "Surprising," she admitted. "I mean, I was expecting to a very awkward moment, but it wasn't. It was rather professional, except for the fact that he called me by my first name and not Dr. Grey."

Both fell into silence for a while, until Meredith rolled onto her side, having her back on Derek now, and nestled into his arms.

"I stopped thinking about him as someone related to Morgan," she continued, sounding mostly as if she was talking to herself. "It's better now."

Derek squeezed her shoulder and kissed it. "Life needs to move on for everyone."

Meredith nodded slowly and looked for his hand, intertwining their fingers once more. Life was moving on for everyone already, Meredith noticed as she saw the ring on her finger.

"You're really not in any hurry with the wedding?" she asked Derek.

"I am not," he answered. "I'll let you even choose the date."

Still holding hands, Meredith rolled onto her back. Derek smiled and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "How about the moving?" she asked him then.

"What about it?" he asked back as their hands traced over Meredith's cheek.

"What are we doing about the moving?"

"I don't know," he answered. "Have you changed your mind about building us a house where the trailer is?"

Meredith smiled as she briefly considered that option. "How long does it take to build a house?"

His smile became even wider as she asked him that. He let go of her hand and cupped her cheek as he kissed her. "I'll make some phone calls and I will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible."

"Ok," Meredith smiled. "In the meantime, I think it is ok for us to live here. We just need to take care of the cleaning."

"That shouldn't be so hard," Derek answered with a smile.

He leaned down as he cupped her cheek and his lips started brushing slowly against hers, his tongue parting her lips and thrusting deeply into her mouth. Meredith moaned as her arms curved around his neck and her fingers tangled into his hair. Derek slowly shifted on top of her, parting her legs as he propped his weight on his forearms.

Their lips broke apart for a moment only as they smiled at each other.

"What time is it?" Meredith asked.

Derek didn't break the gaze he was holding on her eyes as he answered, "It's early. We have plenty of time."

"Good," Meredith giggled and pulled his face down to her while her leg wrapped around his waist.

Derek groaned at the perfect contact of their bodies and, holding her face between his hands, started kissing her feverishly. Soon his hands started roaming down her body, caressing and squeezing each part of her soft skin until his hand found her breast. His lips moved lower to the curve of her neck, leaving light red marks as they sucked on its skin. In response, Meredith moaned in his ear, her warm breath sending shivers through his body.

Both of them stopped and held their breaths as they heard a muffled whimper coming from the baby monitor.

"Tell me it's just in my imagination," Meredith whimpered quietly.

As answer to that question, a loud crying started sounding in the baby monitor and Derek smiled apologetically at her.

"Can you go to her?" he asked her. "I really need to shower."

Meredith sighed and smiled sympathetically. "I am sorry."

Derek pressed a strong kiss against her lips, lingering a moment longer as Meredith kissed him back. "I am sorry too," he sighed and moved off her.

Cujo burst in, barking at them from the doorway. "We heard her!" Meredith groaned as she stood up.

Derek chuckled and handed her the bathrobe. "He just wanted to be sure."

"Yeah," Meredith giggled. "As if it would be impossible not to hear her."

She wrapped the bathrobe around her and Derek pulled her into his arms for a short embrace and quick kiss. "I'll be in the bathroom if she goes back to sleep." He told her with lust in his smirk.

Meredith giggled as she pushed him away and headed for the door. Little Morgan soon calmed down as one of the grown-ups had her in care, but contrary to their expectations, she didn't want to go back to sleep. After she had her diaper changed, she spent a lovely and quiet moment with her Mommy in the rocking chair. That's how Derek found them minutes later.

"The water was running cold," he sighed as he walked in. He still couldn't stop from smiling as he looked at them.

Morgan was lying in her mother's arms, chewing her fingers as usual and waving her hand as Meredith was holding it. Hearing Derek's voice, Morgan wanted to see, so Meredith held her upright.

"She has started recognizing the voices, I noticed," Derek stated, crouching in front of the chair. "Did I tell you we had a fabulous ride with the ferryboat yesterday?" he asked Meredith, grinning up at her.

"You did," Meredith answered with a giggle. "And not just once."

"Yeah. I am kind of bragging," he chuckled smugly.

Meredith laughed as she playfully hit him with her leg.

He hadn't told Meredith yet about meeting Thatcher on the ferryboat and about the talk he had had with him. He had wanted the dinner to be perfect and, knowing how much that news would mess Meredith up, he chose to say nothing about it. This morning neither looked like the right moment to tell her. Everything looked so perfect in their life in this moment and he wanted to keep it this way for a little longer. Derek stood up and took Morgan from Meredith. He held her up in the air, laughing along with her infectious giggle. He kissed both of her cheeks before he brought her into his arms.

"You can shower and then you can take Cujo out of a walk while I feed Morgan," Derek told her. Cujo barked once, hearing something about a walk.

"What?" Meredith looked visibly displeased with his plan. "Why don't you go and walk Cujo and I feed Morgan?"

Derek smiled teasingly. "Because you brought Cujo home."

"But I am Morgan's mother," Meredith wasn't going to let him win that so easily.

"But still, you brought Cujo into the house."

Meredith narrowed her eyes into a glare.

"Or you could just let him outside in the backyard," Derek chuckled.

Meredith stood up from the rocking chair and put her arms around Morgan and Derek as she kissed Derek first and then Morgan. "Don't let him outside too long. It's raining."

Derek carried Morgan downstairs, with Cujo leading their way. "Be a little patient, Cujo," Derek called after the dog as he saw him heading to the door. But then he heard a key in the latch. He shifted Morgan on his hip and curiously waited to see if that was Ellis making another unannounced visit.

The door opened and Cujo happily barked and waggled his tail as he saw Claudia stepping inside. He wanted to see if he could sneak outside, but Claudia was much faster and caught him by the collar and pushed him back inside. "Not alone, Cujo."

"He might have big needs," Derek chuckled. "We'll leave him out in the backyard.

Just then Claudia saw Derek.

Morgan surprised everyone when, seeing Claudia, she clapped her hands and squealed delightfully.

"I think she has missed you a lot," Derek muttered, watching Morgan's smile with shock.

"Aww," Claudia giggled and walked over to them. Morgan knew how to play and have all their attention. She played shy and hid her face against Derek's shoulder, giggling when Claudia took her hand and kissed it. She pulled her hand back and curled it between her and Derek, still giggling.

"That's an impressive change," Claudia stated.

"It is," Derek nodded. "She's still drooling, but she's much better. She's no longer Ms. Cranky."

"That's good," Claudia smiled. "I am sorry for showing up this early. I couldn't sleep and I thought I could come and help you with Cujo?"

"That's ok," Derek chuckled. "We could need some help with Cujo."

"Oh so you both want to spend time with Morgan," she laughed.

"You can't blame us," Derek laughed too.

Claudia nodded.

"But you need to have some coffee first," Derek said. "I don't have to be at the hospital right away so I can take him outside for a walk later."

They all went to the kitchen and Derek let Cujo outside first before he put Morgan in her highchair, while Claudia put to make some coffee.

"How's Meredith?" she asked.

"Meredith's doing fine," Derek stated and Claudia could sense a shrill of happiness in his voice.

She turned and smiled suspiciously. "I would say she's doing more than fine."

Derek laughed and the sparkle in his eyes proved Claudia she was right. Derek gave Morgan her spoon and let her play with it while he kept grinning at Claudia.

"Ok, that's a mean thing to do," Claudia laughed. "You look like you need to share it with someone."

Derek laughed and nodded. "I asked Meredith to marry me."

"Oh," Claudia gasped and laughed, visibly happy to hear that. "And she said yes."

"She said yes," Derek nodded.

Claudia laughed as she gave him a congratulatory hug. "It was about time you two make this thing official."

"I know," Derek agreed. "We won't hurry with the wedding though. I think Meredith needs more time."

"She might need more time," Claudia nodded her head, agreeing. "She's still newly mom."

"We also talked about moving in together," Derek said. Claudia looked at him confused as she knew they were living together already. "Yeah," Derek chuckled as he understood her confusion. "I mean moving in another house. I have other big news to tell you."

"Another one?" she gasped then. "She's pregnant again?"

"No, no," Derek hurried to clear that out. "Not yet anyway," he added with a chuckle. "Morgan can sit upright by herself now."

Claudia looked over at Morgan and she saw she was indeed not leaning against the chair anymore. "How long was I gone?" she asked herself under her breath.

"It's exhilarating the speed they grow up with. So we are expecting her to start crawling soon and then she will be all over the place. We're thinking about moving into a new house. One of our own," Derek said. "How's your son doing?" he asked her, changing the subject.

"Christian is much better. Thank you for asking," she gratefully smiled at him. "He needs to stay in the hospital for the rest of the week though but Dr. Bailey says he will make full recovery."

"I am glad to hear that," Derek smiled sincerely. "Did you think about my idea?"

"The kindergarten?" she asked.

"Yes,"

Claudia turned and filled two mugs with coffee. She brought them at the table and gave one to Derek. "I am not sure I want this," she admitted apologetically. "I would be taking care of the administration mostly and… I just want to spend time with the children."

Derek could not believe he was hearing that. "We could hire someone to take care of administration. You'd be Morgan's teacher."

Claudia still didn't look convinced. Derek sighed disappointedly. "So you might leave us in a couple of months."

Claudia sighed as she set down at the table beside Morgan. She picked the spoon up as Morgan dropped it and gave it to Derek to wash it. She took Morgan from her seat and put her on her lap. "I talked to my son and… he's not very thrilled with this idea."

"He wants you for his baby only," Derek understood.

"Yes," Claudia nodded. "And to be honest, I wouldn't want to work as teacher either. I have to admit that… I am old and…" she smiled sheepishly. "I am doing fine with one or two children, but more are… too much."

Derek sighed, disappointed.

"I have some news to give you too," Claudia smiled. "My son and his wife are moving back in Seattle in a few months; before the due day."

"That's great. I am happy for you," Derek wanted to look like he was happy for her, though he was very disappointed with the thought of losing Claudia in a couple of months.

"And that's not all," Claudia continued. "They say they wouldn't have any problem if I keep taking care of Morgan after the baby is born. As long as I think I can handle both of the children and… I think I can."

That sounded like a good idea to Derek. "Morgan would have the chance to socialize with other children. Grow up with one."

"Exactly," Claudia nodded. "But I am thinking to bring Morgan to my house, this way I can have my grandchild in a familiar place too. What do you think Meredith will think of this arrangement?"

Derek had to admit that he hadn't thought about that. Meredith had her ideas of how to raise Morgan and she had hired a Nanny to have someone taking care of her daughter only. Although she would have to send Morgan to kindergarten one day. "I will talk to her and see what she thinks of this. Now let's have the breakfast ready."

"Think of what?" Meredith asked as she walked into the kitchen

Morgan looked up at her mommy's voice and same as earlier she squealed and clapped her hands as she saw her Mommy. Meredith almost had tears in her eyes and looked at the others as she could not believe what Morgan just did have been real.

"She's very cheerful today," Derek nodded, laughing.

Claudia stood up and brought Morgan to Meredith. "Good morning, Meredith."

Meredith first dropped several kisses on her baby's cheek, laughing along with her giggle, before she smiled at Claudia. "Good morning."

"May I see it?" Claudia asked Meredith, glancing down at her left hand.

Meredith looked at Derek and asked, "How far the news spread?"

"Don't be mad. He didn't say anything, actually, but you could have guessed easily," Claudia said. She took Meredith's hand and admired her ring. "It's very beautiful."

Meredith's cheeks turned bright red as she sheepishly giggled, "It's nice." Derek laughed, noticing her bashfulness.

"Congratulations, Meredith," Claudia said, giving Meredith a hug.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled.

A scratch and a whimper were heard coming from the backdoor and Claudia went to let Cujo in. Cujo ran inside, leaving wet prints on the floor as he went to Meredith and Morgan. Sniffing Meredith and making sure everything was ok with Morgan, Cujo shook off the water from his fur, spraying everything around him.

"Ok, so the dog needs to go," Meredith stated, annoyed with the drop-stains and the smell of wet dog. "I meant it when I said I want a clean place for Morgan. Cujo is not clean for her."

Derek and Claudia looked worriedly at each other as Meredith seemed to be very firm with her decision.

"You can't do this, Mer," Derek pointed out.

"That's right," Claudia nodded.

"We will be more careful next time we let Cujo outside in the rain," Derek added.

"Since when are you taking the dog's side?" Meredith asked, glaring at Derek in particular. "You didn't like him in the first place," she told him.

"But he proved to be a good dog for Morgan and a faithful friend," he answered. "You know it very well too, now you're just mad because he shook in here."

Derek was right and Meredith knew she had overreacted. She still glared at Cujo as she walked past him and sat down in a chair.

"Pancakes or toast?" Derek asked Meredith and Claudia.

Claudia shrugged, leaving Meredith to choose. "Pancakes," Meredith smiled.

"And some rice with milk for Morgan?" Claudia asked.

Meredith nodded. "That sounds good. Maybe some food for Cujo too," she said as she saw Cujo biting one of the table's legs.

Everyone laughed as they saw him, including Morgan though she didn't know why. "I will do it," Derek said and took a meat can out of the closet.

Cujo jumped up quickly at the well-known sound and ran to his bowl, impatiently waiting for his breakfast.

"Now what was I supposed to think?" Meredith asked them, returning to what she had overheard when she walked in.

Claudia and Derek glanced at each other.

"Claudia's son and his wife will move back in Seattle in a couple of months," Derek said.

"Oh," that reminded Meredith of the fact that she might lose Claudia soon.

"I was thinking…" Claudia started hesitantly. "I've become very fond of Morgan and I would like to keep taking care of her. My daughter-in-law will have a few months of maternity leave, but then I would like to take care of my grandchild too. I was thinking, and they agreed too, …. I could bring Morgan to my house and this way I could take care of both babies. I assure you I wouldn't have any trouble."

Meredith thought about it for a moment and then she nodded. "It doesn't sound bad. I will think about it."

Derek smiled impressed at Claudia. He looked questioningly at Meredith then as they heard a beeper in the living room.

Meredith sighed, hoping the call wouldn't ask her to skip breakfast with Morgan and Derek. She took Morgan with her as she went to go and check on the message. She came back in kitchen, sighing disappointed.

"It's an emergency and I have to be at the hospital," she told them.

Claudia came and took Morgan from Meredith. Like she could sense that her mommy was leaving, Morgan changed her mood drastically. She held her hand out to Meredith and gave it a strong squeeze when Meredith took it.

"Be a good girl for Claudia," Meredith kissed her daughter.

That was all it took for Morgan to understand and start crying.

"Don't cry," Claudia tried to sooth her. "Mommy will be back soon."

But Morgan started crying even louder, almost screaming and holding her arms to go to her Mommy. Meredith knew that taking her back from Claudia would cause Morgan even more pain, so she kissed her hand and let go of it. "Call me if something happens" she told Claudia.

Morgan was now crying and fussing desperately in Claudia's arms as she also saw Derek saying goodbye from her Mommy.

"She'll be fine," Derek reassured her.

Meredith nodded and gave one last worried look to her daughter before she hurried to leave.

Morgan didn't seem like she would calm down anytime soon and, alarmed by Morgan's constant scream, Cujo looked like he was going to start barking soon. Any attempt of calming Morgan down failed and Derek had to take over.

"Now we're throwing a little tantrum, huh?" Derek said as he took Morgan from Claudia.

Something in his voice sounded like a reproach to Morgan. She didn't like it, but her scream was calming down. She kept crying, but she did it in a lower volume as Derek took a seat in a chair and put her on his lap. Derek tried to distract Morgan by showing her various things like, spoons, bowls, napkins, whatever was on the table in that moment. Morgan was calming down for a brief second only and then she was starting fussing again, desperately looking around.

Derek had another idea of how to distract Morgan. He rolled her sleeve up and let her bracelet shine in the light while he waved her wrist so that Morgan could see it. Suddenly, as she saw her bracelet, Morgan stopped from crying. She kept whimpering, but she was no longer looking for her Mommy. She started pinching and slapping her bracelet.

Derek sighed with relief. It wasn't the first time that Morgan cried and he had no idea how to calm her down. He kissed the top of her head and told her, "We'll have a talk about this when you will be older."

"She has such mood swings," Claudia noticed.

"I know," Derek nodded. "And I have to admit that I am a little worried because of this."

"She's little. She's checking the field to see what she can get from you later," Claudia chuckled. "Usually, children do it when they are a little older than her, so you should be careful with Morgan."

"It's hard not to spoil her and it's even harder to see her crying the way she just did," Derek confessed.

"Anyway, I wouldn't call it tantrum right now," Claudia said. "Children cry when they see one of their parents leaving."

Derek agreed with a nod. "Now there's no need for such drama," he softly told Morgan. "Daddy is still home and he has time to have breakfast with you." Derek had the weirdest, but also the most heart-warming feeling as he talked to Morgan about himself as her Daddy for the first time.

As he looked up, he saw Claudia's smile. "Things progress fast with you two."

"Yeah, well… we didn't actually talk about this," Derek smiled faintly. "But I will be her mommy's husband. One day. I will be her father then."

"That's true, but let me give an advice," Claudia said. "Talk to Meredith about this before she hears you. You never know how she could react."

Derek was worried now. "But she told me I was already Morgan's father. She told me several times."

"Still. Talk to her," Claudia suggested.

"Do you think she might not accept it? She already accepted to spend the rest of her life with me."

"I think she might accept it. You said she already told you about your role in Morgan's life," Claudia assured him. "You know what? Forget I mentioned it. We have to get the breakfast ready."

Derek took in what Claudia had told him. Maybe she had gotten to know Meredith very well and she had a good reason to give him such advice. He stood up and put Morgan back in her highchair. Morgan whimpered and wanted to go to him.

"We're right here," Derek told her and kissed the top of her head, before he went back to mixing the ingredients for breakfast.

"Talking about Daddies," Derek said. Claudia proved to be a wise woman and a good listener, so it felt easy for Derek and Meredith to go and look for advices to her. "Morgan and I met Meredith's father yesterday."

"Why am I not surprised?" she rolled her eyes. "I am sure you didn't meet by accident."

"We didn't," Derek nodded. "I talked to him and asked him to stop stalking Meredith. I asked him either to come and talk to Meredith or to leave her alone."

"What did he say?"

"He said he doesn't know what to tell her. So I told him to sit back and figure out before coming back to look for her," Derek answered. "Now I don't know how to tell Meredith. Should I tell her?"

"Don't," Claudia shook her head. "Why would you do it? Meredith would expect him and though she might not admit it, she would be disappointed. Let him come to her whenever he feels ready."

"You're right," Derek nodded. He sight and leaned against the counter as he smiled at Claudia. "Thank you."

"No problem," she smiled at him.

Derek heard his phone ringing and so did Morgan. She whimpered and asked to go to Derek, if not, she was going to insist.

Derek checked his phone and saw it was his mother that was calling. That could be the right opportunity to let his mom now about his engagement. He took Morgan's hand and kissed it, telling her, "I'll be in the next room. Now play nice with the bracelet. Can you watch her?" he asked Claudia then.

Claudia rolled her eyes, smiling, "If I want to receive my paycheck."

Derek chuckled and nodded. "I won't be long."


	36. Chapter 36

"Good morning, mom," Derek cheerfully answered to his mother. "You're very early."

"Like you don't know me," Carolyn chuckled. "Am I disturbing?"

"Not really," Derek answered. "We're preparing the breakfast and Morgan has this weird mood swings this morning."

"What do you mean?" Carolyn sounded a little worried.

"She first squeals and claps her hands and then she starts crying."

"Why does she cry?"

"Because Meredith had to left earlier for work and now because I left the kitchen to answer the phone."

"Oh Derek," Carolyn laughed. "She just feels like she doesn't spend enough time with you two. If she squeals now, it means that her teething is getting better."

"It's much better," Derek answered.

"That's good. And please spare the poor baby of lectures and critics because of the crying. You were much worse than her when you were little," Carolyn answered with a chuckle. "All the teachers from your kindergarten knew when I was dropping you there."

"I never cried after you and dad," Derek groaned.

"How do you know? Can you remember?" she asked knowingly.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Ok, so I was the worst baby."

"Now don't be so harsh," Carolyn replied teasingly. "Mark came back from Seattle," she added, not talking in a more serious tone.

Derek sighed and nodded. "He did." He hadn't had the chance to tell his mother about how Mark's visit to Seattle went. "He met Morgan and he even had the chance to hold her. Morgan also had the opportunity of throwing up on him."

Carolyn chuckled, but Derek could tell that she had found that information slightly funny. "He didn't come to visit me and he didn't want to tell me anything on the phone when I called him."

"I guess that says everything about our future," Derek pointed out.

"It does. I am very happy for your new life there, Derek. Mark… he's… He is no longer Morgan's father."

"He never was," Derek replied.

"He never was," his mother agreed.

Derek took a deep breath, now ready to tell his mother the big news. "Meredith and I decided to make our relationship official. I proposed and she said yes."

"Oh," Carolyn gasped and Derek's couldn't tell if that was a gasp of disappointment or joy. "I am happy she agreed. Congratulations, Derek."

Derek sighed with a relief and the smile returned on his face. "Thank you. We didn't set a date yet and there won't be a wedding very soon, but we took this first step."

"That's good. You still have a lot to talk about. Like adopting Morgan. You want to adopt her, don't you?"

"I do and I know. We'll talk about everything. I proposed her last night so we didn't have much time to discuss the future. We discussed though about moving in a new house. One of our own."

"You could build one on that land you have," Carolyn suggested.

Derek chuckled. "That is the plan."

"Now that's the good news to start the day with," Carolyn laughed. "You need to bring Meredith and Morgan to visit us and meet your family. Bring her soon. She's old enough now to travel. We could go to Hamptons to beach. She hasn't had her first bath in the ocean yet, has she?"

"Who?" Derek laughed. "Meredith or Morgan?"

"Morgan, you silly," his mother started laughing too.

"Now take it easier with this because we have jobs here."

"I am sure you can take a weekend off and pay us a short visit," Carolyn wasn't going to drop the subject until she didn't get a promise. "Your sisters are anxious to meet Meredith and Morgan."

"Do they know about Mark?"

"No and I am still thinking if they should know or not," she answered.

"They shouldn't. What's the point? Mark even refused to take a picture of Morgan with him. Besides, they will start with the critics and scenarios."

"Ok, ok. I wasn't going to tell them myself anyway. How is everything else going there? How's Claudia?"

As Carolyn asked that, Derek heard Morgan crying in the kitchen. "Claudia is fine. Probably struggling to feed Morgan. Morgan's crying so I'd better go and check on her."

"Ok. I will try and call Meredith now," Carolyn stated.

"Mom."

"A quick congratulatory call. If she can talk."

Derek shook his head, but he was less worried now. His mother seemed to like and accept Meredith and she would know what to tell her without making Meredith feel embarrassed. "Don't tell her anything about the visit. I will talk to her first."

"Ok. Have a nice day, Derek."

"So do you. Goodbye, mom."

"Goodbye, Derek."

With that, Derek hung up and hurried back to kitchen to see what the problem was now. Morgan was getting hungry and impatient to eat something. Derek let Claudia feed her while he finally finished their breakfast.

--------

Later that day, Meredith finished the chart she was writing. She shut it and took a moment of breathing, leaning over the counter at the nurses' station. Her ring caught her attention and she slowly started playing with it around the finger.

"Did you know that Mama asked me to return the ring?" Cristina said dryly as she dropped her chart on the counter. She took Meredith's left hand to give a better look at ring. She gave a short look only before she let go of her hand. "Congratulations," she said, non-sarcastically this time, and smiled at Meredith.

"Thanks," Meredith answered, unsure. "Are you ok with this?"

Cristina shrugged, ready to be herself again. "I will have to find new obsession now that Dr. McDreamy is taken."

Meredith smiled, relieved to see that Cristina wasn't much disturbed by her engagement. It was her after all that talked Cristina out of her wedding.

"I want to see it too!"

Cristina and Meredith turned as they heard Izzie approaching. Without permission, she grabbed Meredith's hand, beaming. "Fabulous. This looks so beautiful. It's simple, but yet elegant and expensive." She sighed, having a huge smile on her face. "I envy you. I really do. You have such a perfect family now."

"Hey, why don't we go out and have a drink tonight?" Cristina suggested. "I know you have a baby, but you can still get free a couple of hours to have a drink," she said to Meredith.

"Uh…" Meredith smiled apologetically. "I am not sure I can. I think Derek said something about having dinner with a friend. But I don't know. I will ask him. It's been long since I last went out."

"I definitely can't," Izzie grinned at them. "Alex is taking me out tonight."

Meredith and Cristina looked surprised at her. "But we don't like Alex Karev," Cristina pointed out.

Izzie let out a chuckle. "You two don't like him now, but I do. He is a very nice, sensitive guy, actually. Funny too. You should reconsider your opinion about him. He deserves a chance. Anyway," she added and turned to Meredith, "Do you need help with the wedding? I'd be more than happy to help you."

"Not just yet," Meredith apologized.

"So you're not hurrying?" Izzie asked, a little disappointed.

"I have confidence. I am not scared," Meredith stated.

Izzie nodded, impressed. "That's good then. Let me know when you're ready to start planning it. I have to go finish my work now," she smirked at them and then sprinted down the hall.

"This makes me consider keeping the wedding date secret," Meredith watched with uncertainty Izzie's excitement toward her wedding.

As she was waiting for approval from Cristina and as Cristina was late with it, Meredith looked at her friend. She saw her staring blankly ahead, with a look that Meredith had never seen at her. Depressed.

"I will talk to Derek and tell him I can't go with him to this dinner," Meredith said.

Cristina rolled her eyes, unimpressed with Meredith's help. "Me and my tequila will do just fine. I was engaged once, so I don't envy you," she stated. She turned on her heels and walked away, absent-minded, passing past Derek and not answering to his salute.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked as he stopped by the nurses' station.

"She's depressed, I think," Meredith answered with a sigh. "Derek, I can't come with you tonight at that dinner. I hope it's not something important."

Derek seemed to have other things on his mind, so he didn't pay much attention to what Meredith was saying. "Yeah, ok," he answered, distracted, hurrying to tell her what he had on his mind. "I have two questions; simple questions. I need answers."

"Ok," Meredith nodded, expecting some medical related questions.

"Are you ok with me, being Morgan's father?" he asked. Meredith gave him a puzzled look as that was a topic they had talked about frequently. "I'll rephrase that," he said. "Is it ok if … uh…" he sighed, frustrated. "I don't know how to say this. I want to be Daddy and not Derek anymore. You and me should be Mommy and Daddy and not Mommy and Derek."

Meredith was a little confused at first, but she finally understood what he was rambling about. "I am ok with it. But I thought we cleared this up already."

"We did?" Derek asked, confused. Meredith nodded firmly. "Oh. Ok," he answered, still unsure. "So I can talk to Morgan like… adding 'Daddy' at the end of a sentence when I talk to her… right?"

Meredith nodded her head, still staring at him as if he was suffering of amnesia. "You proposed to me last night."

"I did," it was now Derek's turn to be confused.

"Say that again," Meredith asked.

"I did," Derek nodded.

"Oh," Meredith nodded. "I thought that was a rhetoric question. I am ok with whatever you want to ask me."

"Good," Derek smiled with relief. "Now there's one last question."

"Ok," Meredith was waiting.

"After we get married- whenever that will happen- I can adopt Morgan, right?" he asked.

Meredith shook her head, disappointed. "We talked about this as well. What's going on, Derek? Are you backing out already?"

"What? No. I just wanted to be sure."

Meredith shook her head again, disappointed with the lack of trust he was showing. "Let me say it this way," she told him. "If I die or something happens to me and I can't take care of Morgan anymore, I would want you to raise Morgan. I wouldn't choose my mom or anyone else. We might get divorced at some point. You never know. I am sure you'd still be Morgan's father. I trust you. Because it's kind of sucks not to have a Daddy."

"I am sorry," Derek apologized sincerely. "It's just that… you have mood swings. Just like Morgan."

"I do not," Meredith disagreed and Derek gave her a known look. "Rarely and not this drastic," she admitted. "You're overreacting."

"Maybe I am," Derek chuckled. He put his arm around her waist and pressed his lips against her temple. "Now about dinner… I wanted you to come and I wanted to ask you to have the dinner to our house. Or your mom's house," he added with an odd chuckle. "We need to fix this soon," he muttered. "Anyway… that's ok if you can't. I have an old friend from the med school visiting Seattle for a consult and I wanted to introduce you to him."

"How old is he?" Meredith asked him, suddenly interested.

"My age," Derek answered, confused. "Why?"

"Is he married?" she asked.

"No," he answered.

"Committed?" she asked then.

Derek narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I am better looking than him. Believe me."

Meredith giggled. "I am not interested in him."

"You sound like you are," he pointed out.

"Not for me," she cleared up the misunderstanding. "Is he committed?"

"I don't know, but what's with all these questions?" Derek insisted.

"Is he alone in Seattle?" Meredith continued.

"Meredith," Derek replied with a groan.

"Just answer,"

"I think he is," he answered, frustrated.

"Then find out and if he is, we can have dinner at our house… my mother's house," she sighed. "Our house for now. But you are going to cook."

"Can I know what this interrogatory was about?"

"Cristina. She's single and I think she's also depressed. She needs to spend time with people. Meet people. Date people. Preferably men."

"I am not sure," Derek disagreed. "Owen might not like her."

"You don't know that. He's also a doctor?"

"Trauma doctor, yes," Derek nodded.

"Invite him and I will invite Cristina."

Derek was still not sure with Meredith's plan. "She's single because of us," she reminded him.

"Because of you," Derek disagreed. "You took her from the wedding, while I was waiting for her together with the groom."

"Still… I feel sorry for her," Meredith insisted.

"Ok," Derek finally gave in. "But I am not sure that he's not committed. We haven't talked in a while."

"It doesn't matter," Meredith shrugged. "Oh and your mom called me this morning."

"I told her not to," Derek sighed.

"Why?" she asked him, looking as if she didn't like what he was thinking. "She wanted to congratulate me."

"Did she tell you something about a visit?"

"She mentioned something, but I was in a hurry so she couldn't tell me what was about. Why? Who's visiting?"

Right in that moment, Derek's pager went off. "We'll talk later about this," he gave her a quick kisses before he hurried to answer the call.


	37. Chapter 37

Meredith convinced Cristina to come to her house that evening, without telling her that the dinner was still going to take place. Cristina pulled her car in front of Meredith's house when Meredith was coming back from the walk with Cujo.

Seeing Cristina stopped on the porch at their door and not recognizing her, Cujo carefully started sniffing Cristina all over.

"Make it stop," Cristina whimpered as she constantly tried to stay away from Cujo.

"Let him smell you and he'll leave you alone."

Meredith unlocked and let them inside. She took Cujo's leash off and hung it in the closet while Cristina took off her jacket.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Cristina asked, glancing at the leash.

Meredith just rolled her eyes. "You never had a pet."

"Neither did you," Cristina pointed out.

"But I have one now that lives with my baby. Take your shoes off, by the way," Meredith asked and Cristina looked skeptically at her. "I have a baby in the house," Meredith pointed out firmly leaving Cristina no room for argument.

Cristina obeyed and pulled her boots off her feet.

They heard Morgan's prattle as Claudia carried her down the stairs and Cujo ran to greet them.

"Why doesn't he take his shoes off?" Cristina grumbled. "I mean, wash his paws. He walked bare-foot outside."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Can you act more like your age and not a school kid?"

Coming downstairs, Morgan giggled and threw her fists over her face as sign of joy when she spotted her mommy. Meredith wanted to take her from Claudia, but Cristina hurried past her and scooped Morgan from Claudia's arms, entering the living room and leaving Claudia and Meredith stare surprised after her. Morgan had expected to go straight into her Mommy's arms as she usually did when Meredith was coming home; she didn't protest, but she checked Cristina and looked over her shoulder at Meredith as if she was trying to understand the situation.

"She didn't wash her hands," Claudia whispered to Meredith.

"I used a sanitizer gel before I got off the car," Cristina overheard Claudia's remark and replied dryly. "Why is the table set for dinner?" she asked. "I thought you canceled the dinner."

"You did?" Claudia asked Meredith, confused, as the last time she had spoken to her she was told they would have guests for dinner.

Cristina spun around and fixed a questioning stare on Meredith. "I think I forgot to announce you, Claudia," Meredith told Claudia and discreetly winked, letting her know to play along. Claudia smiled and nodded discreetly.

"Right after you left with Cujo, Morgan woke up so I also fed her. I didn't have time to give her a bath though," Claudia apologized. "She put some food in her hair and eyes."

"That's ok," Meredith giggled. "I guess we should forbid her to feed herself for a while; she should fix the coordination in her movements first."

"Hey," Cristina snapped then, cautiously checking Morgan's outfit; a baby blue dress with a waist band and a little flower tugged on it; the matching hat Morgan was wearing. "Why is she dressed up like she is going to meet the president of the United States?"

"Because she was supposed to," Meredith answered with a teasing giggle.

Claudia was very confused with Meredith's plans for the night. "I didn't cook," she whispered to Meredith, but this time she made sure Cristina would not hear her.

"That's ok," Meredith whispered back and nodded reassuringly.

"Ok," Claudia nodded, still confused. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No. We're fine."

"Then I will gather my things."

Claudia said her goodbyes from them, but her departure was delayed a little as Morgan started crying when she saw her putting her coat on and opening the door. She gave Morgan a kiss and told her she would see her in the morning and she also showed Meredith Derek's trick with the bracelet. Meredith was impressed with how much distraction that bracelet was giving her.

It hadn't passed too many minutes since Claudia's departure when Meredith saw Cujo running to the door. She and Cristina stood up as they heard Derek talking to someone. Meredith glanced at her friend, checking for her reaction. She could feel her confusion and curious stare, but Meredith ignored it and went to greet Derek and his friend.

"Hi," Derek walked inside, smiling at Meredith. He stopped by her side, gave her a kiss and then turned to his friend – who was talking to the dog, trying to convince it of his good intentions.

"Owen, I'd like you to meet my fiancé .Meredith," he couldn't help but grin at how great his introduction had sounded. "Meredith, this is Owen Hunt; a good friend of mine from the Med School."

As everyone was fine with the stranger, Cujo gave him some credit and went back to his master- which was still in Cristina's arms, wiggling to go to her Mommy or Derek.

"It's nice to finally meet Derek's fiancé," Owen chuckled as he walked up to Meredith and offered her a flower bouquet.

Just then Meredith noticed that Owen was bringing two bouquets.

Owen smiled as he looked past them, at Cristina and Morgan. "And this must be Derek's baby girl."

At that, Derek looked over at Meredith to see for her reaction. Meredith just smiled at him.

"That's right. That's Morgan," Derek introduced her to Owen. "Will you take these, please?" he asked Meredith, giving her two big bags. "That's dinner."

Meredith freed his hands so that he could take Morgan in his arms and kiss her cheeks properly. In the meantime, Meredith gave one last glance at her friend, before she walked into the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase and serve dinner on plates.

"She's adorable," Owen complimented her and showed her a small pink bag. "You have a teddy bear in here, but I will let your parents give it to you."

Derek took the bag and chuckled when Morgan bent down to the bag as if she knew that bag was for her.

Cristina had to clear her throat to make her presence there noticed. Since the moment that man entered the house, Cristina carefully analyzed him. He was without a doubt a very handsome man, but the most intriguing thing about him was his second flower bouquet.

The mystery solved when Owen took a step forward and came in front of her, offering her the flowers. "You must be Meredith's friend."

Dazzled by the unexpected gesture, Cristina couldn't find her words right away, so she just nodded.

Derek had to snicker inside of him at the sight of a dazzled Cristina. "I will translate for you. Her name is Cristina Yang."

Cristina answered immediately with a glare to Derek.

"She's also second year resident, just like Meredith," Derek added.

"It's nice to meet you, Cristina," Owen smiled and had to lift the flowers upper to make her understand that those were for her.

"Yes," Cristina shook herself out of her trance and took the flowers. "You bought flowers. For us."

Owen looked a little confused. "I did. Do you mind?"

Cristina found herself staring in his eyes. "I don't," she whispered.

Derek found odd the scene and he even felt like a fifth wheel to a car. "Why don't we go in?" he suggested.

Both, Cristina and Owen stirred. "Yes," they agreed in unison.

"Good," Derek muttered under his breath.

Meredith caught up with Derek and stopped before they entered the room. "He'd better not be committed."

"Even if he is, I think he will break up with his girlfriend," Derek reassured her, whispering.

Walking in living room, they found Cristina and Owen sitting on the couch, both at opposite edges, far from each other; but they also looked like two teenagers that were dating someone for the first time.

"They are made for each other," Derek laughed quietly and Meredith laughed too, elbowing to stop.

Cristina jumped up, her flowers in her arms. "I will help you with the dinner, Meredith," she stated and almost ran out of the room.

"I left the beverages in the car," Derek told Meredith.

She nodded and hurried after her friend. She found her pacing around in the kitchen.

"Blind date?" Cristina asked bitterly.

Surprised with the sudden change of mood, Meredith quickly shook her head, ready to deny everything. But then, Cristina softened her features and attitude.

"Why did he buy flowers for two women he didn't know?"

Meredith shrugged. "Maybe because he's a gentleman."

"Or gay," Cristina pointed out. Meredith hadn't thought about that and it was most probable that Derek didn't know anything about that too. "See?"

"He's not," Meredith didn't want to discourage her.

"You're sure."

"I am not sure, because I don't know him. Derek would have told me if Owen ever had an attraction for men."

"People change their sexual orientation," Cristina pointed out.

"Yes, but… He doesn't look gay. Derek bought me flowers once."

"But he knew you."

"He didn't know me. It was the day I was in the hospital after Morgan's birth."

Cristina chuckled knowingly. "Should I remind you that he also helped you give birth? So he did know you."

Meredith groaned, exasperated with Cristina distrust. "I am not setting you a date here. I invited you because I didn't want you to be alone another evening. Besides… Morgan missed you."

"Sure," Cristina grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Where's the booze?"

"In the car. I have to bring it."

"I will go," Cristina put the flowers on the table and hurried to leave.

Meredith hurried after her and stopped her before she could leave the kitchen. "You're not going to run, I hope."

Cristina just rolled her eyes and jerked her arm from Meredith grip. "I just need the keys to Derek's car."

"Ask Derek," Meredith answered, still unsure. But she wasn't going to run with Derek's car. Was she?

A minute passed since Cristina had left to bring the beverages from Derek's car when she walked back in. Meredith sighed with relief, a gesture that didn't pass unnoticed by Cristina. She rolled her eyes and placed the bags on the counter.

"You can't blame me," Meredith wanted to point out. "It wouldn't have been the first time you ran from a man."

"What am I a freak?" she shrugged. "Besides, I couldn't run without your help."

"Sting me with it for the rest of my life," Meredith giggled, shaking her head. "Take the drinks and follow me," she asked Cristina while she carefully took two plates with food.

When they walked in the living room, they found Owen and Derek on the couch, playing with Morgan and her new teddy bear.

Cristina looked at Meredith and muttered 'gay'.

'Shut up,' Meredith mouthed back. "Dinner is ready." She announced everyone.

"I was just telling Derek, Morgan looks more like you. She has your eyes," Owen noticed. "She doesn't look much like him, except for the color of her eyes.."

Derek and Meredith exchanged a look.

"She has a few curls," Derek said as he ran his fingers through Morgan's soft hair.

"She does. You're jealous, huh?" Owen chuckled. "You wanted her to look more like you."

"I guess I am," Derek laughed.

As response to that, Cristina laughed sarcastically. Everyone turned and looked at her, especially Meredith, which was glaring at her.

"Actually…" Derek started a little hesitant. "I am not her biological father."

Though it disappointed her at first, Meredith knew they wouldn't be able to lie to everyone and Owen was one of Derek's friends.

"Oh, I am sorry," Owen apologized, visibly embarrassed. "You said…"

"And she is," Derek nodded. "Not legally yet."

"Oh," Owen nodded, still embarrassed. "I am sorry," he also apologized to Meredith.

"No need to," she assured him with a smile.

"Anyway…" Owen tried to excuse himself more. "You found yourself a beautiful family, Derek."

Derek smiled up at Meredith and took her hand, answering as he smiled at Owen. "I was very lucky. And you don't know yet how we met."

"You wouldn't want to know," Cristina cut in.

Owen looked back and forth between Derek and Cristina at their exchange of glares.

"We met the night when little Morgan here decided to come into the world, when her Mommy was anywhere else but home or hospital," Derek went on.

Meredith grabbed Cristina and pulled her aside, out of the other's earshot. "I forbid you to reply this way at Derek. What's your problem with him?"

"I don't have a problem," Cristina stated. "I am doing it just for fun."

"Really? Then let me point this out; you're the only one that has fun with it."

"Fine," Cristina silently groaned and threw her hands up as sign of surrender.

"Good," Meredith hissed and returned to the others.

She found the men laughing and Morgan laughing along with them, although she didn't know what was so funny. As she looked over the couch, Meredith spotted behind it the pink play yard she had bought for Morgan not long ago.

"Claudia must have installed it," she muttered to herself.

"I think so," Derek heard her and nodded. "It's about time we use it, I guess." Derek stood up and lifted Morgan up in the air, laughing as she stuffed her fingers into her mouth and giggled down at him. She stood perfectly still for a while and then started wiggling and laughing.

Derek gave her a kiss and then took her to her play yard, where some of her toys were already. Morgan rolled on one side, grabbed her new teddy bear and started slapping it.

"Keep an eye on her," Derek asked Cujo. Cujo complied immediately and lay down beside the play yard.

"He's very protective of her," Owen noticed.

"He's her shadow," Derek nodded.

"Do you remember Rambo?" Owen asked him then.

"Your puppy," Derek remembered.

"Yeah. Well he was no longer a puppy when he passed away three years ago."

"I am sorry,"

"I miss him, but he was about to become the oldest dog in the world, so I had to accept the loss."

From there, as they sat at the table, the conversation diverted to work, which also allowed Meredith and Cristina to join in. When Owen started recounting their memories from Med School, he also accidentally and briefly mentioned Addison, Derek's ex-wife. The blooper was soon forgotten as they returned the topic to work. At one point, Meredith and Derek found themselves out of the conversation as Cristina and Owen were mostly talking to each other. They didn't mind it and were both satisfied to see the great bonding between their friends.

As Morgan stood quiet in the play yard and the spirits were cheerful at the table, neither of them noticed when almost three hours flew by.

"I will go check on Morgan," Meredith told Derek and stood up from the table. As she leaned over the play yard, Meredith was shocked with the view. Somehow, Cujo had jumped inside and he was now lying beside a sleeping Morgan. Other than that, he was also giving soft, caressing licks to her cheek. Meredith was more than impressed with the scene. She whispered to Derek and made a sign to the others to come.

"Aww," Derek chuckled. "He looks like he's licking his puppy."

"You made a great choice with the dog," Owen stated, also heart-warmed with the view.

Only when everyone gathered around them, Cujo stopped and looked up.

Cristina looked at them, being the only one unimpressed. "Do you want me to remind you what other places he cleans with his tongue?"

Everyone groaned. They didn't need a reminder though.

"As long as a dog is well-fed and good taken care of, he represents no danger to a baby," Owen replied knowingly.

"Ignore her," Derek chuckled as he patted him on the shoulder. "When she was little, her pet was an alien."

Cristina gasped outraged with Derek's comment and wanted to reply back, but she couldn't find the right words.

"Is he allowed to have fun instead?" she glared at Meredith for her previous scold.

"He paid you back," Meredith laughed.

Owen watched amused the scene and said to Derek, "I guess she's Meredith's friend only."

"Yeah. Well…" Derek wanted to make another sharp remark but he met Meredith's disapproving glare, so he stopped.

"I guess it's time for me to leave," Owen said. "It's late and tomorrow I have to be up early."

"Yeah, I will go too," Cristina replied quickly and Meredith smiled knowingly at her.

"It was nice meeting you, Meredith," Owen told Meredith. "I hope I will see you sooner than at the wedding. When is the wedding, by the way?" he asked her and Derek.

"We'll send you the invitation in time," Derek assured him.

"Right," Owen seemed to have understood that the date hadn't been chosen yet. "Alright then."

"I'll drive Owen to the hotel," Derek told Meredith.

Meredith glanced at her friend as if was asking her to do something wise.

"I could give him a ride," Cristina offered.

Owen looked more than pleased with the offer and Derek let out a chuckle when he saw the sheepish way Cristina was smiling and how she flirtatiously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Stop it, Derek," Meredith whispered to Derek, also hardly abstaining not to laugh.

"I have to… I have to take the flowers," Cristina stammered, smiling. She spun around and went to take her flowers from the kitchen, all these under Owen's enchanted stare.

"Don't worry," Derek told him. "She's not as dangerous as she looks."

Owen looked at him, confused. "She doesn't look dangerous at all."

"Oh. Then she's more dangerous than I thought," he muttered under his breath.

Meredith elbowed him. "Shut up again."

"That's ok," Owen laughed. "Derek and I never shared the same taste in women. No offense to you though," he apologized to Meredith.

Meredith just smiled and nodded.

Cristina returned with her flowers and also grabbed her jacket. "I am ready."

"Good night, Meredith," Owen told Meredith and then shook Derek's hand. "Oh, did you know that Hopkins offered me a job position?"

"They did? Are you considering their option?"

"I might," Owen stated and also glanced at Cristina.

"You could also visit Seattle Grace," Cristina cut in. "Talk to the Chief. Seattle Grace is ranked higher than Hopkins."

"Uh… thanks for the tip," Owen smiled.

"I will walk you to the door," Derek offered.

While Derek walked their guests outside, Meredith gathered the dishes and took them in kitchen.

"What's with Seattle? Why are so many people leaving New York for Seattle?" Meredith asked Derek when he returned.

"What do you mean?"

"You moved from New York to Seattle, I also moved from New York to Seattle, now Owen is considering a possible moving here."

"I don't know," Derek found her remark amusing. "It must be the ferryboats.

As Morgan gave signs of waking up, Meredith let Derek clean up the table and she went to pick up her daughter. She wanted to kiss Morgan but she realized she was about to kiss the cheek Cujo had licked, so she kissed her on one cheek only. Derek laughed when he saw that.

"Yeah," Meredith laughed too. "She smells like dog now."

Morgan let out a yawn and sleepily put her head down on her Mommy's shoulder.

"I will bring her some milk," Derek said.

Meredith took a seat in the couch and lay Morgan onto her arms, rocking her slowly. Morgan sleepily opened her eyes and looked into her Mommy's while she started sucking her fingers. Morgan was giving signs of restless so Derek came back in time with her bottle.

"Let me do it," Derek asked with a grin. "Please," he insisted pleadingly as Meredith didn't look willing to let her go.

"Ok," Meredith rolled her eyes. She took the bottle and let Derek take Morgan.

"Come to Daddy," Derek cooed at Morgan in his best baby voice. "How would you like some milk? Daddy brought it for you." He grinned back at Meredith. "I am sorry but I just love saying this word."

"I noticed," Meredith laughed and handed him the bottle.

Derek helped Morgan sit up in the position to be fed and a brought the nipple to her mouth. Morgan grabbed the bottle with both hands and started sucking the milk out.

"It just feels so… unique," Derek confessed.

"I know. The same thing happened to me," Meredith agreed.

She nestled beside Derek, wrapping her arms around his arm and placing her cheek on his shoulder as she watched Morgan eating.

"What visit was your mom talking about?" she asked, remembering the short conversation she had had with Carolyn over the phone earlier that day.

"She wants us to go visit her in New York. She wants you to meet the rest of my family."

Meredith lifted her head and looked at him, not very thrilled with the idea. "I am sure your sisters have a good impression of me."

"They don't know about you and Mark," Derek cleared that up. "Mom didn't tell them anything about Mark. I think she leaves this to our choice."

"So they shouldn't know?" Meredith asked.

Derek shrugged. "Mark will never admit it. Besides, if they know about Mark, imagine how awkward the reunions would be for all of us."

"You're right," Meredith nodded slowly. "But still… to your sisters, I am a single mom."

Derek smiled. "Nancy's first husband left her 2 months after Trisha was born. He wasn't ready to become parent. They divorced and Nancy got Trisha's full custody. 6 months later she met David and a year later, they got married and David became Trisha's father. None will judge you for being single mom."

Meredith was still not sure.

"They're not witches, Meredith," Derek laughed. He held Morgan's bottle with one hand only and wrapped his arm around Meredith. "You shouldn't be scared of them."

"Maybe I shouldn't but… Morgan is…"

"Old enough for a flight with the airplane," Derek anticipated her answer and made sure he disagreed.

"I don't know," Meredith sighed.

"Think about it. It doesn't have to be long. We would go there for a weekend only."

Meredith looked up at Derek and saw the hope in his eyes. "I will think about it."

"Good," Derek smiled. "I am sure Morgan can't wait to meet all her cousins; or at least some of them. She also needs to choose which of her aunts will be her favorite."

Meredith had to laugh as Derek made the whole visit sound so exciting. She had to admit that he was good at words; he always seemed to know what to say to make things easier.

Derek took her hand, more hopeful now. "So? What do you say?"

Meredith still looked a little reluctant.

"You met mom already and you also know how much she likes you and Morgan."

"I don't know, Derek," Meredith shrugged. "Morgan never flew with the airplane."

"Morgan hasn't done most of the things yet. It has to be a first time for her flight to New York," Derek pointed out knowingly.

"Can we take days off from work?"

Derek chuckled. "For a weekend? I think we can." He titled his head to a side and smiled infectiously. "Morgan would insist if she could talk."

Morgan chocked a little right in that moment, and spit the bottle up, curiously looking at the grown-ups. "See? She would tell you if she could," Derek laughed, kissing the top of Morgan's head and giving her the bottle back.

"Ok," Meredith gave in, a little more convinced now. "When are you planning the visit?"

"How about a month?" he suggested. "Morgan will be a little older and it gives us enough time to plan the trip."

Meredith smiled and nodded. She tucked her feet beneath her and leaned against Derek's arm. "What do you think Cristina and Owen are doing right now?"

"Do you mind if I don't think," Derek showed a grimace.

Meredith laughed and shook her head at his nasty thoughts. "I am sure they're still in the car. Driving," she added as Derek was ready to reply.

"He has strange tastes," he admitted. "Cristina is nothing like the girls he used to date in his teenager years."

"Do you think he will take advantage of her?" she asked, a little worried now.

"Does Cristina look like she can be cheated or abused?"

"Cristina has her sensitive spots as well," Meredith pointed out.

"Sure,"

"Everyone has. Even mom has one. She has a sensitive spot for Morgan."

"Ok, let's just stop with all this talk about Cristina. I had enough of her this evening."

"Do you want to talk about the wedding instead?"

Derek could not believe his ears. He stared at her, dumbfounded, shaking his head to be able to ask, "Whose wedding?"

Meredith smiled at his surprised expression. "Maybe about ours? We could talk about someone's else too, but we should get to know that someone first."

"Uh…" he cleared his throat, not believing that their wedding would come up into their conversation sooner than 10 years. "Ok. What do you want to talk about?" he asked and he wasn't afraid of a cancellation as Meredith didn't look like she was going to do that, judging from the sheepish smile on her lips.

"I don't know," Meredith shrugged. "We could choose a date first, a location. Maybe the guest list. Not much really."

"Ok," Derek chuckled. "Grab that notepad over there," he pointed to the table, already excited.

Meredith leaned forward and took the notepad off the table and a pen, returning to her previous position in the couch, rolling up the notepad. "Ok. I am ready."

"Ok, but you still get to choose the date."

"I am not sure," Meredith hesitated. "I was thinking we should wait for Morgan to be old enough. I want her to take part at the wedding."

Of course it couldn't have been this easily, Derek thought. He kept a smile on his face though and nodded. "Old enough means… until she turns… 30?"

"No," Meredith giggled. "You can breathe now," she laughed at his sigh of relief. "I am not planning on keeping you waiting for so long."

"Ok, then when do you think Morgan will be old enough?"

Meredith was unsure again. "When she will be able to walk… walk preferably without falling. When she could play the role of a flower girl. Maybe," she wanted to be sure he was ok with that too.

Derek's smile became even wider then and all his worries vanished. "She will be able to be a flower girl… one year from now. We're in mid February now."

"How about next summer?" Meredith suggested. "We could stand for big chances of good weather around June or July."

"June or July sounds great," Derek nodded.

Meredith noted down in the notepad the two months, saying, "We have time to decide which month and day."

"We do."

"Ok now… location?" she asked him.

Derek hadn't thought about that and he was still dazzled by the surprising topic at the moment. "I am not sure. I haven't had time to look for a location yet. Or think about one."

Meredith seemed to have a suggestion though. "How about your land?"

"The land. Yes," Derek agreed, impressed with her idea.

Meredith noted that down as well. "Guests list."

"You start," Derek told her.

"Ok," Meredith wrote down, "Mom… Claudia… Cristina… Izzie… George… maybe Dr. Bailey too. She seems like a nice lady."

"I think we should invite her," Derek agreed.

"Alex Karev, because apparently he is dating Izzie… and that would be all," she said and put the pen down.

"That's it?" he asked, not believing how few people she thought to invite to her wedding.

"Yeah, well… My dad is… not around… I probably have siblings I know nothing about. Mom didn't have any sibling, so I have no cousins."

"Other friends?" Derek asked. "From New York maybe?"

"Since I got pregnant… no. No friends left," she smiled sadly. Then she saw him doing what she hated the most; looking pitifully at her. "I am fine with having few people at my wedding. I must tell you that I don't want the event to be something big."

Derek's thoughts drifted quickly at Thatcher and the talk they had had the previous day. Apparently, he had done right not telling about their meeting as Thatcher was giving no sign of showing up in his daughter's life again.

"I've been through this already, so I don't think I want something big either," he stated. "We will also add my sisters, their husbands, mom on the list and I think this will be all."

"How about Owen?"

Derek let out a chuckle. "Only if Cristina invites him."

Morgan finished with her bottle, so she spitted it out. She leaned forward and slapped Meredith's notepad.

"Of course you're on the list too. You're the most important guest," Derek laughed. He took Morgan's hand and brushed his cheek against hers, kissing her. "She smells like dog," he made a face at Meredith.

"I know," Meredith laughed. "How about Mark?" she asked suddenly, letting her smile fade away.

Derek looked up. "Do you want him to come?" he asked her.

"Don't you?" she asked back. "I mean, I don't care if he comes or not but… he's your best friend. Or used to be your best friend. Aren't you going to choose a best man?"

Putting it that way, Derek realized he had no best man for his wedding and he wasn't ok with the idea of asking Mark to be his best man at the wedding; at least not after the recent events. They were still friends, but he wasn't sure how strong their friendship was anymore.

"I don't know," he said quietly, playing with the hem of Morgan's dress. "We have plenty of time to think about it."

Moments like this were making Meredith feel guilty and see how miserable Derek's life had turned because of her. Of course he would never consider it miserable, but still that's how she was seeing it at times.

Derek knew what she was thinking, so he took her hand and kissed it. "Did I tell you that Morgan has two cousins, only 2 years older than her?" Derek tried to distract her. "They are Kathleen's twins; Anna and Kevin." He successfully managed to distract her as he started telling her about Morgan's other cousins.

As Morgan started yawning, letting the grown-ups she wanted back to sleep, their evening also ended. Meredith took Morgan upstairs and had her ready for bed, while Derek stayed downstairs to clean up around kitchen.

Coming upstairs, he first checked on Morgan's room; everything was quiet and everyone was at its place; Morgan sleeping in her crib and Cujo sleeping down beside it. He went then into Meredith's room, finding the room empty but hearing the shower pouring.

Derek chuckled, thrilled with the opportunity. He swiftly unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it down in a chair, unbuckling his belt as he headed to the bathroom. He pushed his pants and boxers down to his ankles and stepped out of them, stepping into the shower then, behind Meredith.

"Let's pick up where we left it off this morning," he grinned, wrapping his arms around her body.

Meredith turned around and smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head under the shower stream. Just now they were ready for a proper evening ending.


	38. Chapter 38

**N/A: There isn't much going on in this update, but I thought it was cute as I wrote it.** **I hope you're going to like it too.**

Two weeks passed since the proposal and as it was expected Meredith took a break from planning the wedding. Derek was still ok with it; they had at least set a day and part of the guest list. In these two weeks Thatcher still didn't show up for a talk to Meredith and this confirmed to Derek, once more, that he had done well not telling her about their conversation on the ferryboat.

Today had been a great day at work; not as many traumas as usual and the few that had happened, ended successfully. This thing allowed them to be home early and plan a dinner in town for the two of them. Derek wanted a romantic evening with Meredith, though that meant to spend less time with Morgan. Surprisingly, Meredith agreed with his plan.

Sitting in front of the mirror, Meredith brushed her hair once more as she waited. She also put her watch around her wrist and checked the time. She sighed and looked back over her shoulder at the bathroom door.

"Do you think you'll be ready by tomorrow morning when you have to be at work?" she asked Derek.

She heard Derek's chuckle in the bathroom. "I am done, but the hair looks messy. I think I need a new haircut."

Meredith rolled her eyes sarcastically at his drama. She stood up and smoothed her black short dress, making a spin to be sure that the material fell fluidly all around. She put her shoes on then and went to see what exactly Derek was doing in the bathroom.

Meredith giggled as she stopped in the doorway and saw Derek nervously playing with the comb in his hair. "This can't be real," she laughed, shaking her head.

Derek frowned at her amusement. "I don't remember making jokes about your messy hair."

"My hair is naturally messy," she shrugged. "Do you want me to shortcut it for you a little?" she offered.

Derek lifted an eyebrow suspiciously. "You can make jokes from now on. I don't care. But you have to be an expert to touch my hair."

"No really," she teased him, giggling. "I am touching it each time we're in bed."

"Meredith," Derek groaned. They were running late for their dinner reservation and he still didn't feel satisfied enough with his hair to go out.

"No. seriously," she replied, more serious now. "It's not like I never cut hair until now. I will shortcut it just a little bit."

"No," Derek's answer came firmly.

A knock in the doorframe had their attention and they saw Claudia looking at them, curious. "Aren't you going to be late?"

Derek groaned annoyed and checked his watch."We're still on time. I need to fix my hair."

Claudia looked at Meredith and hardly hided her smile and fought back a laugher. Meredith bit her lip, smiling, and nodded.

"He doesn't trust me to cut his hair."

"She's going to be your wife, Derek," Claudia took Meredith's side and decided to help her. "She'll be doing a lot of things for you from now on and most of those things won't be possible without her."

Derek looked at her with a glare and then looked at Meredith. She had her arms folded across her chest, acting offended with the lack of trust he was showing. Derek rolled his eyes and threw the comb on the counter.

"You'd better know how to handle the scissors," he warned Meredith.

Meredith and Claudia smiled at each other and Meredith nodded confidently at Derek. "Do you have that machine that cuts the hair electrically?"

Derek sighed, suppressing a groan as he leaned against the counter, defeated. "No and I assume you don't have one either."

"No, but I'll use the scissors," Meredith grinned. "Besides, I told you I will shortcut it just a little."

Claudia giggled and walked out of the bathroom saying, "Morgan is in her crib. I am taking Cujo out of for a walk."

"Ok," Meredith smiled cheerfully and went to look for a scissors in the cabinet.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're trying to cancel the dinner and stay home with Morgan?" Derek asked her.

Meredith just looked at him and shook her head. "Do you see how stunning I look in this dress? I do want to show it off to the others too."

Just then, Derek locked his eyes on Meredith's dress and couldn't but admire how sexy she looked in it. His eyes trailed from the band around her waist, down to her bare knees and lower to her slim ankles.

"It's too short," he voiced his thoughts with a mutter.

Meredith giggled as she took his words as compliment.

Derek glared at her. "I am serious."

She rolled her eyes and walked back in the bedroom to bring a chair for Derek to sit down.

"When did you buy this dress anyway?"

"Derek, give me a break. We'll get married, but I still make the choices over my wardrobe," she warned him as she saw how serious he was with the topic. "Besides I am showing off at your arm and not alone. Now shut up and let me make you look pretty."

"Better not," Derek stood up.

"Ok, but we go as soon as Claudia comes back from her walk with Cujo."

"Ok," Derek agreed.

Meredith wasn't going to let it off so easily. They had some time left now that Claudia was gone and she had this sudden craving of playing with the scissors in Derek's hair.

"Can I chop it just a little bit?" she asked childishly.

Derek could not believe how she was acting. Though it didn't sound appealing to him, he had to admit she was looking cute; quite adorable even.

"Why are you insisting?"

"Because we have nothing to do right now. Morgan is sleeping and we're waiting for Claudia to come back. Claudia is right. I'll be your wife so you'd have to let yourself in my care."

That was what caught Derek. He grinned foolishly only at the sound of those words. "Fine." He took the scissors off the counter and handed them to Meredith before he sat back down in the chair.

Meredith giggled like a kid with a new toy. She took a lock of hair between her fingers and exposed the tips only. As she continued cutting on his hair, Meredith found herself enjoying it even more.

"From time to time you have to comb it to be sure that you didn't make the hair look like a field half plowed."

"How are you coming up with these?" Meredith giggled. She took the comb and ran it through his hair.

When Derek let out a gasp, as he checked his hair as well, Meredith let her hands fell at her sides and took a step back.

"It's not that bad," Meredith muttered innocently.

Derek took a deep breath, not wanting to outburst. It was him that allowed her to play with his hair after all. He stood up and grabbed the comb out of Meredith's hand.

Morgan started crying in her room and they heard her through the baby monitor.

"Saved by the bell," Meredith muttered under her breath as she hurried to leave Derek alone.

Morgan was climbing on the crib's bar, stopping from crying as she spotted her Mommy coming to help her.

Meredith was still waiting for Morgan to start crawling, but for unknown reasons, Morgan was late doing it. She stood by the crib and just watched the baby, wanting to see if that would make her struggle more and start crawling.

Morgan was getting frustrated with that fact that no one was answering to her call, so she fell onto her bum and started crying.

Meredith smiled, shaking her head. "Come here," she picked up her baby girl and cuddled her into her arms. "You had a long nap, huh? Let's go somewhere safe," she kissed her girl as she carried her outside. "Someone is having beauty issues and we'd better not cross paths with him right now," she giggled as she whispered and headed downstairs.

Wrapped in her favorite blanket and being in her Mommy's arms, Morgan doze off. Meredith ran slowly her fingers through Morgan's soft hair, caressing her and rocking her. Morgan fixed her blue gaze on her Mommy as if she wanted to check up what her state was. Meredith giggled at her cute look and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Morgan giggled too and freshened up more as she waved her hands in the air and struggled to stand up. Meredith helped her and placed her on her lap. With her fingers in her mouth, Morgan first checked what was to do for her. She spotted her Mommy's low neckline of her dress and laughed as she stuffed her hand in it.

"What are you doing?" Meredith laughed and took her hand out of the decollete.

Morgan squealed and pulled her hands to her mouth as if she knew that what she had done was something embarrassing. Maybe it was embarrassing, but it was also fun so she did it again.

"Are you trying to tell me you're hungry?" Meredith asked, amused by Morgan's insistence.

Morgan stuffed her fingers into her mouth and smiled at her mother.

While Meredith stood downstairs with Morgan, Derek tried to fix his hair. It didn't look that bad but he was strict with the way his hair should look. After he made a phone call, he went downstairs to join the family.

He saw Morgan standing on Meredith's lap, cheerfully slapping her face. Derek made a sign to Meredith to stay quiet as he sneaked behind Morgan. Meredith was shaking her head, quietly telling him not to, but Derek grabbed Morgan by the waist and pinched her.

Morgan stirred and jumped around, scared. Her scare vanished quickly as she spotted her favorite person in the whole wide world. She squealed and started laughing as she knelt onto her Mommy's lap.

Derek walked out of her sight and Morgan quickly looked after him, trying to spot him again. In the meantime, Derek walked behind the couch and made sure he stayed hidden. Derek sneaked his head out and started Morgan.

Morgan let out a frightened gasped at the unexpected appearance, but as she realized who that was, she started laughing again. Derek hided again and scared her again. Morgan was laughing harder each time Derek scared her.

"Let her breathe, Derek," Meredith was laughing too, struggling to keep Morgan into her arms.

Of course Morgan wanted to go to Derek when he took a seat beside them. Derek put her onto his lap and started bouncing her slowly. Morgan was having a blast with all the attention she was receiving from the grown-ups.

It didn't pass long and Claudia returned home with Cujo. Cujo ran straight to his masters and started sniffing each of them, Morgan in particular. As the environment look entertaining, he jumped with his front paws up on Derek's knees, waggling his tail and wanted to be petted.

"Are you ready, Derek?" Claudia asked him. "Though it doesn't look bad."

"Ready for what?" asked Meredith.

"I called her for help. You still need to learn how to handle the scissors."

"We're going to be late, Derek."

Derek checked his watched and sighed. "If Claudia finishes fast and we hurry a little bit, we'll get there on time.

"I have an idea," Claudia cut in. "Instead of hurrying, you could change your plan for the evening and go someplace else for dinner. My favorite spot, Orcas Island."

"I never heard of it," Derek looked questioningly at Meredith.

"I did, but we have to take the ferryboat and it's a long ride."

"It is long, but it's also worth it," Claudia agreed. "It's Friday evening and there are still ferryboats that get there. You could spend a little time there and come back with the last ferryboat."

"I like the idea," Derek grinned.

Meredith liked it too, but she was also a little bit reluctant.

"It is too late to take Morgan this time, but you can take her some other time," Claudia guessed right the reason to her reluctance. "It's just a suggestion though. It would be something special to do for a date."

"Let's go there," Derek insisted.

Meredith sighed and smiled. "Fine, but fix your hair already. You should shave it to bald; this way you can solve the problem faster."

"You wouldn't want me bald," Derek smiled knowingly. He gave Meredith a kiss and gave Morgan back to her Mommy.

Claudia fixed Derek's hair in no time, so he and Meredith were off to their date soon.


	39. Chapter 39

The landscape they enjoyed on the ferryboat was breathtaking, making the journey itself a perfect romantic date.

Meredith rested in Derek's arms as they sat on a bench and watched the marvelous colors of the twilight. It was peace and quiet, though they weren't the only passengers on the ferryboat. The others were also couples of lovers, young and old, all together enjoying the perfect evening. Meredith secretly wished they could spend the night there on the island, but the thought of letting Morgan at home, quickly made her change her mind.

They didn't talk much. Just sitting and watching was exactly what they both needed; now and then talking to each other through a soft kiss.

The ride to the island took more than an hour indeed and Meredith's outfit wasn't quite comfortable for such ride, so as they got off from the ferryboat, Derek drove, hoping they would find a restaurant to dine at without reservation. Luck wasn't on their side, but neither of them was disappointed.

Derek asked to a restaurant if they could order food and have it packed. The waiter said it was no problem and said their order would be ready soon. Derek took Meredith outside then.

The restaurant was located on the beach, very close to the bay. The twilight was disappearing slowly, soon allowing the night to take over. The wind was blowing harder and cooler too. Despite this, Meredith led Derek to some rocks, nearby the restaurant. From there, they could have a complete view of the restaurant and the beach.

Meredith watched all the couples that walked into the restaurant or walked along the shore, holding hands. "You can have a very romantic evening here if you have it planned from time."

"That's true, but this doesn't mean that our evening will be less romantic," Derek encouraged her, confident. "You're cold," Derek noticed when Meredith rubbed her palms against her frozen legs.

"I am good," Meredith denied, smiling reassuringly at him.

Derek put his hand on her leg and saw she was lying. "You should wait in the car while they have dinner ready."

"I am good, Derek," she insisted. She was cold indeed, but she could bare it. It was something about that place and that moment she felt like she shouldn't miss. "We'll have the wine soon and that will heat us up."

Derek cupped her cheek, lingering against her lips before he kissed her. He shook his jacket off and put it on Meredith's shoulders. He stood up then and told her, "Stay here," before he jogged off to the place their car was.

He returned within a minute with a blanket in his hand, grinning at Meredith. "I don't want to have the romanticism ruined by flu."

Meredith giggled and nodded. She took the blanket and spread it over a rock and then she took a seat on it and made room for Derek.

Derek had just taken a seat beside her when he saw the waiter on the terrace of the restaurant, trying to spot them. "Dinner is here," he said and stood up again.

"They were fast. Probably they gave us someone else's order. They felt pity for us," Meredith giggled.

"Still romantic," Derek winked at

Meredith waited while Derek took and paid for their food. When he was back, she could already feel the spicy flavor of the chicken they had ordered and the sweetness of their cheesecake. She hadn't felt how hungry she was until then, when her stomach growled in expectation.

Derek took everything out of the bag and put them down beside them. He was pleasantly surprised with the fact that the waiter had guessed their intention of serving dinner on the island and he had provided them with forks and plastic cups for the wine.

Having everything unwrapped now, both were suddenly starving. Maybe it was the hunger, the long ride to the island or maybe the cold, but they finished the food in no time. Derek opened the bottle of wine then and filled their cups.

"Is it less romantic than theirs?" he asked Meredith, holding his cup up for a toast.

Meredith laughed and shook her head. "It's not," she said and toasted with him. She took a large sip of the wine, almost emptying the cup. "Do you know what I feel sorry about though?"

"What is that?" Derek chuckled, brushing the hair out of her face.

"I feel sorry that we can't finish this bottle of wine and get drunk. I'd like to get drunk with a bottle of red wine on a beach."

Derek laughed and kissed her. "We can get drunk and sleep in the car if we don't find a room."

Meredith felt tempted again. She bit her lip and pulled back, looking away over the water.

"Not this time," Derek sighed, a little disappointed.

Meredith looked at him and smiled. "Definitely soon."

"Soon," Derek smiled reassuringly.

Derek stood up and walked behind Meredith, sitting down and bringing her between his legs. He wrapped his legs over hers and covered them with the blanket. Then he reached for the cheesecake and a fork.

He gave Meredith the first bite.

Meredith moaned as she tasted it; it wasn't just its sweet flavor but also the sweet flavor of their moment when she stayed into his arms, feeling the warmth of his body all around her. She no longer felt the cold weather outside.

"How does it feel?" Meredith asked, quietly. "How does it feel being married?" she rephrased the question.

Derek was caught off guard with the question. "It feels different to each person."

"How did you feel it?"

"Scary," he answered. "But when I first got married it was shortly after the med school and I wasn't having much experience in relationships."

"I am scared," she confessed.

"Why?"

Meredith shrugged. "I don't know how it will be, how it will feel."

"Do you want to know how it will be and how it will feel?" he asked. "It will be and it will feel just like now. Look at us and at your life right now and that's how it will be like and feel like."

Meredith looked over her shoulder at him, questioning, "How do you know?"

Derek smiled and stroked her hair to back. He picked up the fork and gave Meredith more cake. "Because we're already dealing with serious things that a married couple has to deal with; such as being parents and raising a child. We live together and take care of Morgan from the beginning of our relationship. Almost from the beginning," he corrected himself.

"You felt scared when you realized that I had moved in with you already and when you realized how important you and Morgan had become to me," Derek went on. "What are you scared of?"

Meredith shrugged again. She couldn't tell exactly why; she just felt it.

"Maybe it's just the idea of being married," he said. "It's just a paper after all."

"And I will be Meredith Shepherd."

"Does this scare you?" he asked her.

Meredith thought about it and shook her head. "No. It just sounds weird."

Derek kissed the top of her head and gave her more cheesecake. "I see us as family already. If anyone asks me about my family, I tell them about you and Morgan. The marriage will be a formality only."

Meredith sighed and rested her head against his arm as she gazed over the water. "Would have been different to your marriage if your ex-wife hadn't aborted the baby?"

Derek didn't like very much the turn of their evening. Talking about his previous marriage and about his ex-wife wasn't romantic at all, but he also knew how Meredith didn't talk about such things with easiness. "No," his answer came straight.

Meredith pulled away to turn and look at him, surprised with his firm answer.

"It wouldn't have helped our marriage because she would have still been more focused on her career. The only thing different now might have been a step sibling for Morgan," he said with a tent of smile. It was still a hard topic to talk about. "I moved on and life moved on perfectly for me."

Meredith sighed and repositioned herself in his arms. "Do you think I would have liked your baby and I would've loved it as much as you love Morgan?"

Derek had to grown at her question. "No. You wouldn't have loved it," he answered frankly. "You wouldn't have loved it because I don't think I would have had its custody to bring it here with me. It's much easier to love someone else's child when you see it growing under your eyes and when you're part of each second of its life."

Meredith could tell from the tone of his voice that he wasn't enjoying their conversation. "I am sorry," she apologized quietly. "I always come up with new questions."

"Doubts," Derek corrected her knowingly.

Meredith looked at him, "I have Morgan and therefore, I put myself a lot of questions."

"That's natural," Derek kissed her forehead, reassuring. "How do you see us 10 years from now?"

"Same as now," Meredith answered without a doubt.

"Me too and that's all that matters. We're optimistic about our future. What do you think it could interfere between us?" Derek asked her.

Meredith thought about the answer. Mark came into her mind right away, but that didn't seem like the right answer. She thought more and answered, "I don't know."

"Me neither," he answered. "Let's just go with the flow." Derek took the last piece of cheesecake and wanted to give it to Meredith.

"You can have it," Meredith shook her head, smiling at him.

Derek ate it at once and gave Meredith a kiss, sharing a little bit of it with her. Meredith giggled and licked her lips clean. She nestled in his arms, putting her head down and listening to the restless waves.

Derek brushed his lips against her forehead. "Today I booked a flight to New York for us. We have two weeks left to get ready."

"We're going to your mom's house in Hampton?"

Derek answered with a smile, running his fingers through her hair. "Morgan is going to have a blast at the beach this time of year. I called Mom and told her when to expect us and she pouted when she heard that we wouldn't be there sooner."

Meredith smiled. She was nervous about this trip to New York, where she was supposed to meet Derek's family; or part of it. She had met Carolyn already and she knew how fond she had become of Morgan. Hearing about her excitement eased Meredith's worries a little bit.

"I have to put you on guard though," Derek stated. "My sisters won't let us leave until they don't make a clear image about our wedding plan. Nancy will be the worst because she planned everyone's wedding so far. Including my first one."

Meredith was frowning already.

"Don't worry. You agree with whatever she says, but you do it your way. We'll have the wedding in Seattle anyway."

"I am not even sure how I want my wedding to look like," Meredith admitted.

"Oh in this case, Nancy is to-go-to person. She and Kathleen will be there that weekend for sure."

"Is there any chance to run into Mark or your ex?" she asked.

"No. They have no business there and they rarely visit Hampton."

Meredith sighed soundly. Held on Derek's arm and drew it across her chest. "Let's not talk about New York and other stuff."

Derek kept brushing her hair with his fingers and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to have sex instead?"

Meredith answered with a grin. "I'd love to."

"Me too," he kissed her lips softly.

But they both knew they couldn't. It wasn't the right place or the right weather. Instead they comforted with each other's embrace.

"I am such a whiney person," Meredith muttered through a sigh.

Derek didn't hurry to disagree. Meredith giggled and playfully pinched his arm.

"It's natural to be whiney. Especially when you have a baby," Derek hurried to reassure her.

"You're more mature than me. Not just as age. You're very confident and you never seem to panic."

"I am a little more mature than you indeed, but I am not as confident as you think," he confessed. "I just hide my fears very well."

"Do you have fears?" Meredith asked, doubting.

"I do," Derek nodded. "Despite you, I became parent out of nowhere. I didn't have nine months to get used to the idea. I panic too when I am alone with Morgan and she cries and I can't make her stop. Or when she was teething and was having fever and crying hysterically. You weren't the only one that thought she might have something more serious than teething."

Meredith found herself staring at him. "I don't believe you."

"Why?" Derek chuckled. "I told you, I am just good at hiding my fears. One of us has to stay calm and try to think clear."

Looking down at Meredith, Derek saw the thoughtful stare on her face. He brushed the back of his hand against her cold cheek and had her back as she smiled at him.

"Do you want to share?" Derek asked softly.

"Are you worried about Morgan at the moment?"

"What? No," Derek answered, confused. "Why would I be? I know she's home, safe with Claudia and Cujo."

"No, I mean, not right now. In this moment. I am talking about… these days."

Derek was still confused.

Meredith let out sigh. "Why isn't she crawling yet?"

Derek stared at her for a brief moment and then burst into a chuckle. "Because she doesn't have the age."

"Derek, that's not funny!" Meredith scolded. "She's almost 7 months."

"Almost, not yet seven," Derek pointed out. "Babies start crawling at different ages. Some of them start at six months, others at seven or seven and a half months."

"My baby is not a retarded," she grumbled.

"Now that's an insult to all the babies in the universe that don't start crawling at age you established. There's nothing wrong with Morgan and to prove it to you, repeat that word in the same sentence with her name and she'll have a word for you. Not a word, but a fist or reproachful glare she will. Just repeat it to her." Derek chuckled and shook his head. He had his fears but only when something was visibly wrong with Morgan. Meredith on the other hand seemed to freak out mostly because of her imagination. He held Meredith tighter into his arms and brushed his check against hers. "Trust me the way I trust you."

Meredith put her hand on his cheek. "I do."

Derek took her hand and gave it a kiss. "Then think brighter. You're surgeon. You have to be optimistic."

"I am scared."

"You say you trust me,"

"I do, but…"

Derek put a finger on her lips. "Just try. Test it for a while and see how it goes."

"Test the optimism?"

"Yes,"

"Ok," Meredith sighed. "Then I am optimistic that we'll have sunny day tomorrow in Seattle."

"Now you're daydreaming," Derek laughed and Meredith joined him. "But that's a start."

"I am such a wreck," Meredith sighed.

"It's not the first time I hear you saying it and it's also not the first time I tell you it's not true."

Meredith rolled into his arms so that she could face him. Her lips brushed against his. "Enough therapy now."

Derek stroked her cheek. "What's next on our list of romanticism?"

Meredith smiled against his lips. "A romantic kiss."

It was romantic indeed as Meredith gently held Derek's face and their lips enjoyed each other's flavor. They held the wine's flavor, the cheesecake's flavor, the ocean's flavor and a fervent flavor of love. Their kiss held passion, romanticism and love all together.

In the need for air, they pulled away, grinning at each other.

"I think this was the longest kiss in Meredith's history." She giggled.

"Derek can brag with a new record too," Derek added, smirking. "We should get going."

"I don't want to," she whimpered.

"Do you want to go and find a room to spend the night here?"

Meredith bit her lip. Being on the beach, in Derek's arms, heated by the wine and their kiss, Meredith felt the temptation growing.

"Claudia won't mind spending the night with Morgan," Derek reassured her and hurried to add, "And no, I am not thinking about sex right now and I am not choosing sex over going home to Morgan. I do whatever you want me to do."

Meredith kept smiling, biting her lip and playing with his shirt. "Am I a bad mother if…"

"If Mommy and Daddy get a few hours alone?" Derek didn't let her put her question. "She will be sleeping when we get home."

Meredith let out a gasp and then giggled, playfully slapping his arm. "You're choosing sex."

"I am not," Derek replied in defense.

Meredith stood up from the blanket and looked down at Derek. "So?"

Derek shrugged, letting her choose.

Meredith decided not to think more about it. "Let's find a room."

And this time, luck was on their side. She would see her baby girl in the morning, when she would wake up.


	40. Chapter 40

_**A/n: As you noticed already, I've been very slow with my fics lately and most probably I will keep being for a little longer as life keeps me busy with other duties. I will try to update at least once a week though. In the meantime, enjoy a new update of Complete. Thanks for reading!**_

_**---  
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Derek stretched his arms to the sides of the bed, expecting to meet Meredith's warmth. Patting the space beside him, he found it empty. He rubbed his face against the pillow then and sleepily opened his eyes, looking for Meredith. He spotted her sitting curled in a chair beside the window, gazing out the landscape.

Meredith heard him waking up. "I was right being optimistic about sunny days," she smiled, without breaking leaving the bright landscape out of her sight.

Derek chuckled and kept rubbing his face as he trailed out of the bed. "But we're not in Seattle," he pointed out.

"We're close to it though," she sighed.

Derek walked up behind her chair and gently stroked her shoulders while kissing the top of her head. Meredith tilted her head up and let him kiss her on the lips.

"This place is magical," she sighed again, with a smile as she looked out the window.

Derek didn't show much interest in the landscape outside; he was more than satisfied with the one he was holding in his arms. He traced kisses along her shoulder and nuzzled through her hair, kissing her cheek once more. "My dark and twisty Meredith is dazzled by a magical landscape," he mused teasingly.

Meredith giggled and playfully slapped his hand. "Is this what you think of me? I am dark and twisty?"

"No," he smiled, keeping assaulting her cheek and shoulder with kisses. "You are _my_ dark and twisty Meredith."

Meredith smiled, but the smile didn't touch her eyes. She knew he wanted it to be a compliment, but to her that was a sad truth as well.

Derek took her by the hand and pulled her up, taking her place in the chair and bringing her onto his lap. Meredith nestled close to him, putting her head down on his shoulder and still admiring the sight outside.

Derek gently ran his fingers through her hair and let out a chuckle. "You look like Morgan right now."

Meredith looked up at him, giggling. "We have to bring her here."

"We will. Let's wait for the summer first," Derek agreed. "I booked the noon flight for our trip to New York. Hopefully Morgan will be sleeping during the flight and she won't have any problem with it."

"I don't know what I am more nervous about; Morgan's flight with the plane or meeting your sisters."

"I am nervous about Morgan's flight. I am not worried about the rest of the trip," he grinned confidently.

Meredith smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "If Morgan was here with us now, I wouldn't have left the island today."

"I know," he sighed. "Me neither. But as I promised, we will be back soon. This will be our place for vacation."

"It's a good place for vacation."

Meredith sighed heavily and put her head back down on his shoulder.

Brushing his lips against her forehead, Derek saw the lines of worry on her forehead. He pressed his thumb against them and tried smoothing them. "You've been through a lot," he muttered.

Meredith agreed, absent-minded.

"Have you ever considered talking to a specialist?" he asked her.

Meredith jumped up at his question, offense and scowl in her eyes.

"I used to. It can help," Derek hurried to clear up, not wanting her to believe he was calling her crazy. "Sometimes it's good to talk to someone. Their profession is not useless."

"I think it is," Meredith disagreed sharply. "If you don't want to listen to my whines just say so. Don't send me to a shrink."

"Meredith," he called her name softly, taking her hands. "You can always come to me and whine. I am here to listen and help as much as I can, but if you think that my help isn't enough, then maybe you should see a specialist." Meredith was shaking her head firmly, visibly offended with the suggestion. "Come back here," he pulled her back onto his lap and she obeyed, reluctant. "You're worrying and doubting too much," he said softly, making it sound like a simple state of fact and not as an insult. "Anyway, it was just a thought. I used to do it and I am not ashamed of it. Not all the people that enter a cabinet are crazy. They're just stress and they want their life to feel calmer." With that, he kissed her on the forehead. "I am sorry if I ruined your mood and if I offended you. You don't have to listen to me all the time. Do you want to shower with me?"

Meredith managed a smile as she shook her head. "I showered when I woke up," she answered quietly.

Derek sighed and nodded. He had busted it this time.

"We have to hurry," she said, standing up from his lap. "I want to stop by the house and change clothes and see Morgan. I am on call tonight."

Derek didn't dare to argue, though they still had time for breakfast too.

The ride back to Seattle was rather quiet and slightly uncomfortable for both of them. They stayed outside on the deck, watching the island shrinking in distance. They still hugged and kissed and Derek tried to be cheerful, but Meredith was still having his words playing in her head, making her look absent-minded.

When they arrived home, Meredith went ahead and didn't wait for Derek. Though she didn't look upset, Derek knew she was.

Claudia was just coming downstairs when Meredith unlocked the front door. "Good morning, Meredith," she greeted her cheerfully.

Meredith just smiled. "Is she awake?"

"Not yet."

"How was everything last night?" Meredith asked then.

"Everything was fine. How was…" Claudia wanted to ask, but Meredith heard her pager beeping.

"I need to change the clothes before I leave for work," she stated, hurrying up the stairs.

In that moment, Derek walked in too. "Good morning, Claudia," he saluted Claudia, but watching Meredith hurrying upstairs.

"Good morning, Derek," she smiled. "Is everything alright?" she asked, a little confused. There was something in Meredith's attitude that made believe that something had happened.

Derek sighed, proving Claudia she was right. "She's stressed and I made a suggestion about seeing a psychologist. She didn't take the suggestion very well," he whispered.

"Your timing wasn't quite perfect, but I am sure she will forgive you. Maybe she will consider your suggestion."

"Maybe," he sighed. "How's Morgan?" his face lighted, asking about his little girl.

"She's still sleeping. She woke up once last night and it took me a little longer to put her back to sleep. I don't think she liked seeing me in the night too," she chuckled. "First night away; it was hard for both, mommy and baby. I mean first night away not work related."

Derek just nodded.

They heard Meredith coming down the stairs. "I have to go to the hospital," she told Derek while her pager went off again.

Derek walked her to the door and stopped her when she wanted to leave without even a glance towards him. He held her elbow gently and kissed her. "I am sorry, Meredith. For what I said earlier."

"That's fine," she smiled reassuringly, but Derek knew she was doing it only because she was hurrying to go to work.

Derek had work to do now. He had to find a way to make Meredith feel better.

"I made coffee," Claudia stated and both went to the kitchen. "As I said, your timing with the suggestion wasn't perfect. Not only because this was supposed to be a romantic night, but also…"

"It was romantic," Derek interrupted her. "Until earlier," he sighed.

"But also for a different reason," Claudia went on. "I received a surprising, or not, visit last night, shortly after you and Meredith left."

That had Derek's full attention. "Ellis stopped by?" he asked, knowing she was the only one capable of surprising visits.

"No. It was Mr. Grey. Meredith's father."

"Great," Derek muttered under his breath, displeased. "I bet he looked for the right time to knock at the door. What did he want?"

"He wanted to talk to Meredith."

"Of course," he muttered ironically.

"And when I told him that she wasn't home, he gave me a phone number, asking me to tell her to call him," she looked through her pocket and took out a piece of paper, handing it to Derek then.

"How lovely," Derek took the paper, shaking his head. "He still wants her to make the first step."

"I thought I should tell you first."

"Yeah," Derek sighed and took a seat down at the table, crumpling the paper in his hand. "I think we have to tell Meredith though. She wouldn't like to hear that we hid this from her. See? That's why I think she should go and see a specialist. There are too many things happening to her."

"She will crack at some point," Claudia wanted to make it sound like an assurance.

"She will," Derek agreed with her. "But I wonder who will suffer the most. She's so out of self-confidence right now. You should have heard her last night. She put so many questions and I am sure she still had a lot to ask herself."

Claudia put a mug of coffee in front of Derek and took a seat across from him. "You should not insist with this. Maybe she doesn't need much talk anyway. Even if she does, she's smart and she will do the right thing. Maybe she will do it secretly."

"Maybe," Derek muttered, not very convinced. "We'll see. First I have to give her this phone number, then I have to make her forgive me for recommending her to go see a shrink and then we have to start packing for New York."

"Did you book a flight?"

"Yes. We'll leave at noon."

"Morgan might be sleeping at that hour."

"That's right. Thank you for staying with her," Derek smiled gratefully. "And also thank you for recommending us Orcas Island."

Claudia smiled proudly. "I was sure you were going to love it there. Now you have to take Morgan there too."

"We'll definitely take her," Derek nodded. "Meredith is on call tonight, so do you think you could bring Morgan at the hospital at noon? I am sure that will cheer Meredith a little."

"Of course I can bring her."

They heard Morgan through the baby monitor.

"I am going," Derek stood up from the table. He stopped in the doorway, confused. "Where's Cujo?" he asked, just then noticing the dog's absence.

Claudia smiled knowingly and said, "Just wai…" but she couldn't finish the sentence because they heard Cujo barking in Morgan's room. "Now you know," she chuckled. "He stayed glued to her bedroom's floor all night."

"Good boy," Derek laughed. He walked out of the kitchen and hurried to take Morgan. Cujo was sitting by her crib, as usual, sniffing through the crib's bars. Derek just petted him a little and then he leaned over the crib.

Morgan was lying onto her back, crying and fussing under her blanket. Her crying became a whimper once she saw Derek. He picked her up into his, gently smoothing her hair and kissing her.

"Good morning, Morgan," he cooed. "Did you miss Daddy? I did miss you. Mommy missed you too." He walked over to the rocking chair and took a seat in it, rocking slowly with Morgan in his arms.

Morgan clutched his jacket with her fist and buried her face in his chest. Derek gently rubbed circles onto her back. He knew she needed a few minutes to wake up and get over crankiness. Indeed, it didn't pass long and Morgan started fussing and lifting her head. She stuck the thumb into her mouth and sleepily watched Derek.

"Did you have a nice evening with Claudia? Or you missed us too much?" Derek started talking to Morgan. "We certainly missed you. We were in this beautiful place with beach, water and a beautiful sunset. We wished you were there with us. And no…" Derek smiled apologetically. "We didn't buy you any gift from there."

Morgan mewled as Derek said that.

"That's my girl!" Derek laughed.

Morgan protested with a whimper at his laugher and she also slapped his cheeks with both hands.

"Now let's not hit Daddy," Derek took her hands and kissed them. "I promise you will get to see the island very soon and then you'll be able to choose the gift yourself. Now let's get you and your pal Cujo fed because later we're going to see Mommy."

-------

At noon, the patio was overcrowded with people, most of the medical staff in their lunch break. In a corner, Meredith was having lunch at a table with Cristina, George and Izzie.

Her friends were giving curious glances to her as Meredith was absent-mindedly nipping her sandwich.

Cristina shifted her chair closer to Meredith. "Should we dare?" she asked her.

Just when she felt Cristina breath into her face, Meredith stirred and became more aware of the people around her. "Dare what?"

"To ask you what's going on?" Cristina asked.

"Didn't the date go as you expected?" Izzie asked.

Meredith sighed and gave up on eating as she put the sandwich down. "The date was perfect. Extremely romantic; we had dinner under the moonlight, on a rock, accompanied by a freezing wind. On an island."

"Island?" Izzie's jaw dropped. "Did he rent a helicopter?"

"Has the helicopter crashed?" George asked, confused.

"Good question," Cristina nodded and looked questioningly at Meredith.

Meredith just nodded at first. Then she took a deep breath. "It kind of did. It crashed right after we landed."

Everyone was curious now to find out more.

"Derek thinks I should see a shrink."

Everyone looked at each other.

"He thinks I have too many worries and that it might help me if I see a shrink," Meredith continued. "I think he's tired of listening to my whines."

Her friends didn't know which way to answer to such confession. They looked at each other and Izzie and George fixed their stares on Cristina, expecting her to be the first one to say something. Cristina replied with a glare at their stares, but then she was the first one to speak.

She cleared her throat. "I am sure he didn't have enough of your whines." She stopped briefly not liking so much the way that had sounded. "Not that you should keep whining. Maybe he had a bad sleep last night. Was the performance averaged last night?"

"Cristina," Izzie scowled. "Mer, I am sure he just wanted to make a suggestion. You do look tensed though and if you ask me, it's not a shameful thing to see a shrink."

"It's not," George nodded. "Even if it is, it helps. My dad passed away last year and that left a huge imprint on me."

Meredith was listening carefully to George. "Why do people go to a stranger and talk about their problems? How exactly they can help you?"

"They help you the same way your friends help. With advices. The difference is that the shrink doesn't know you and it doesn't share your pain. The shrink is detached from the source of your problems and this way it has the right advices to bring you back to normality. At least, that's how I see things," George shrugged.

"Do you feel like you need a shrink?" Izzie asked her.

Meredith shrugged. "I have Morgan, which sometimes I rarely see her and she grows up so fast and I am afraid of missing important things from her life. She is growing but she's not crawling yet. Then I have a dad I don't talk to, I have a wedding to think about, a visit to New York and family to meet. It's not much."

"How about Owen's arrival?" Cristina asked with interest. "I could help you with that worry if you give me more information."

"Who is this guy Owen?" Izzie asked, extremely curious. "Has _She_ found Prince Charming?"

Cristina slowly turned to Izzie as she heard that. "What's 'has _She_' supposed to mean?"

Meredith sighed loudly, smiling teasingly at her friend. "Yes. Cristina is in love. Like a schoolgirl."

"Aww," Izzie giggled.

"Oww," George showed a grimace. "Will she start drawing hearts in her notepad and on the sides of the charts?"

Everyone laughed, except for Cristina. Instead, she grabbed Meredith's sandwich and smashed it against George's mouth.

"Now that was mean," Izzie laughed. "You're a mean schoolgirl, Cristina."

Cristina grabbed her apple and was ready to throw it in Izzie, but Meredith caught her wrist and took the apple.

"This 7 month-old here is more grown-up than you right now," a familiar laugher made everyone stop from laughing and bickering.

"Morgan!" Meredith jumped up from her chair, squealing at the sight of Morgan and Claudia. She took her baby into her arms and kissed her.

Morgan answered to her greeting with a cheerful giggle.

"What are you doing here?" Meredith asked Claudia as she took a seat and motioned for Claudia to grab a chair too.

Claudia pulled a chair beside Meredith. "Derek asked us to surprise you with a visit."

"He did?" Meredith couldn't help but smile.

"That's thoughtful," Izzie pointed out. "See? He's a thoughtful guy."

"Did you tell them about the shrink?" Claudia asked Meredith.

Meredith lifted a brow, curious. "Derek told you about the shrink?"

Claudia smiled sheepishly. "He might have slipped something out."

"What do you think she should do?" Izzie asked Claudia.

"If you feel like you need to, you should go see a shrink," Claudia told Meredith. "But this is your decision only and I am not the one to talk you into this. I just brought Morgan to see Mommy."

"Thank you," Meredith smiled gratefully, and by that she thanked her for everything. Meredith wrapped her arms around Morgan and nuzzled through her soft hair, breathing her in. "You should have put a hat onto her head. It's cold outside." Meredith scolded her softly.

Claudia just smiled and showed her the hat she was holding in her hand.

"Sorry," she muttered, smiling apologetically.

"Pass her to me," Izzie pleaded and held her arms out towards Morgan. "It's been long since I last saw her."

"No, I want to hold her," George asked.

Cristina stood up and walked up beside Meredith's chair, muttering, "Amateurs"

As she wanted to take Morgan from Meredith, Meredith pulled away, glaring at her. "No. First of all she's mine and then, she hasn't seen me since yesterday afternoon, which soon will mean 24 hours." She brushed her fingers through Morgan's hair and kissed her on the cheek.

Morgan wasn't sure she liked so much the attention she was receiving; all those arms stretched to her made her play shy and hide her face in Mommy's chest.

"Did she eat?" Meredith asked Claudia.

"Right before we left," she nodded.

Meredith sliced a piece of the apple Cristina had wanted to throw in Izzie and gave Morgan the slice. Morgan took it with both hands and started nipping it as she carefully watched all the smiling faces around her. She giggled and shyly ran her hand over her eyes, making everyone laugh. All those were people she knew already, though she wasn't seeing them so often. They were part of her and Mommy's life; Santa George, her shopping mate Izzie and her best, odd friend Cristina.

From the moment Morgan joined them at the table, everyone's attention revolved around her. Everyone tried to impress her with something. Izzie with a potato chip, which Meredith slapped away, George with a carrot, which Meredith slapped away also as George had already eaten from it.

As she looked up, Meredith saw Derek and Dr. Bailey walking in the patio together, talking. Both of them noticed the crowd around Meredith and Morgan and headed together towards them.

"Daddy's girl," Derek chuckled cheerfully as he walked up behind Meredith. He kissed the top of her head before he took Morgan from Meredith.

Morgan giggled delightfully as Derek tossed her up in the air.

"How's Daddy's girl doing? Did you come to see Daddy?" he started cooing. "Daddy missed you so much."

"Is it just me or he's obsessively repeating the word 'daddy'?" Dr. Bailey asked, laughing.

"I think he is," Izzie laughed too.

"And the obsession is still growing," Meredith added.

"Yeah," Derek grinned at them. "That's my new favorite word."

"Will it pass soon?" Cristina asked with a tint of sarcasm.

"Definitely not. Or ever," Derek grinned.

"She has grown so much," Bailey told Meredith with a smile.

"She has," Meredith smiled proudly.

"I have work to do, but come find me after you finish here. I need to talk to you," she told Meredith.

"Ok," Meredith nodded.

As they stood at the table and talked, the crowd started shrinking, one by one going back to work. Claudia excused herself for a minute too saying she needed to go to the bathroom, giving Meredith and Derek some time alone with Morgan.

Derek looked over at Meredith and took her hand, gently. "How's your day going?"

Meredith shrugged, smiling. "Not as alert as I need. I want this day to pass faster."

"Are you still…"

"I am not," Meredith didn't let him finish, knowing he was going to ask her if she was still upset with him. "I am fine. Seriously," she smiled reassuringly.

"Good, because I don't think I could stand having you upset even more with me after this," he said, looking through his pockets. "I am not sure when's the right time to give it to you, so I am just going to do it right now." He handed her the piece of paper that had her father's phone number.

Meredith questioningly looked at him as she took the paper. She unfolded it and read the phone number and the name written beside it.

Derek closely watched Meredith's features changing from surprise, to pain and disillusion.

Meredith looked up at Derek and Morgan and then she understood that she didn't really need her father. She had a family of her own now and the pain of her father's doubt toward her wasn't as great as had thought it would be.

Meredith smiled wearily at them as she crumpled the paper and tossed into an ashtray. Derek was pleased with her reaction. She seemed to know as well as he that her father was a disappointment.

Morgan hadn't eaten much from her slice of apple, so she decided not to waste it. She handed it up to Derek, smiling. Derek didn't pay much attention to her gesture and took the apple and put it on a plate. Morgan started whimpering then and leaning to the table for the apple.

"There you go," Derek gave it back to her.

Morgan repeated the previous gesture and held it up to Derek, still whimpering.

"What do you want?" Derek asked, confused.

Meredith giggled, knowing better what Morgan wanted to do. "I think she wants you to finish it."

"I don't think that's what she wants," Derek looked confused.

Morgan kept insisting, whimpering.

Derek was surprised with the gesture and reluctantly took the slice of apple. Morgan had over-drooled over it and made it less appealing.

Meredith giggled as she watched Derek's efforts to get over the disgust and eat the slice. "She's so generous," she laughed.

"She is," Derek laughed too and rewarded the baby with several kisses.

Morgan laughed satisfied with the attention she had successfully kept on her. She stuck her thumb into her mouth and lay back against Derek's chest.

"She's tired," Meredith noticed.

Derek brushed Morgan's soft hair with his fingers and smiled as she watched Morgan slowly closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

"I wonder what Dr. Bailey wants to talk to me about," Meredith said, more to herself. As she looked at Derek, she saw him watching her with a knowing expression on his face. "You know what she wants to tell me."

Derek just smiled.

"Is it bad?" she asked.

"No. I wouldn't call it bad. It was kind of expecting," he answered.

"Now I am sure it can't be something good," Meredith concluded.

Derek leaned to her and kissed her on the cheek. "Every problem has a solution," he reassured her.

Claudia came back shortly, so Morgan's visit to the hospital ended. Meredith and Derek said their goodbyes to the sleepy Morgan and then each of them return to work, Meredith first going to see what Dr. Bailey had to say to her.


	41. Chapter 41

After Claudia had left with Morgan, Meredith went to look for Dr. Bailey. She found her at a nurses' station handing a chart to a nurse.

"Dr. Grey," she spotted her immediately. "Come with me," she motioned to Meredith and led her to an office.

They were alone in there and Dr. Bailey made a sign for Meredith to take a seat, while she sat down across from Meredith.

"As you know, the Chief wants to name a second year resident for its first solo surgery," Dr. Bailey started relating.

Meredith listened carefully. She didn't know exactly why Dr. Bailey was telling her this, but she knew from the tone of her voice that it weren't good news to her.

"You're one of the best 2nd year residents. Your interns are the most prepared and everyone appreciates the work and interest you put on them," Dr. Bailey continued. "Unfortunately, this kept you away from the OR and the hours you spent in surgeries don't qualify you for the solo surgery. You need to give up on some of your lab skills hours and focus more on ER."

Meredith knew what that meant; more time spent at the hospital and less time at home with Morgan. "I am not really interested in being the first one doing the solo surgery," Meredith muttered, half lying. She was a surgeon though and she loved her job and same as other surgeon, being the first resident from your promotion to do its solo surgery would be a huge professional pride. But she was also a mother and she knew how it felt for the child to have a parent passionate for its job.

Dr. Bailey smiled softly. "We're not talking about the solo surgery only. This is also about your future as surgeon. I know it's hard. I am a mother too and sometimes my baby doesn't see me for two or three days straight because when I do go home, I found him asleep."

Meredith found no comfort in Bailey's words. She even felt outraged to hear that. She swallowed a lump and controlled the tone of her voice, not wanting to sound rude. "How can you live with that?"

Dr. Bailey was caught off guard. She leaned back in her chair, letting her hands fell onto her lap. Meredith could tell that Bailey was feeling offended and hurt.

"It's hard," Meredith muttered, apologizing. "I do know how it feels. For the child."

"It is hard," Bailey nodded. She stood up from the table, propped her fists against the table, holding her look down, and said, "I don't judge you. You don't judge me. I am just letting you know what the Chief told me. That's how things are." Saying that, Bailey turned around and headed to the door.

"Dr. Bailey," Meredith called for her softly, standing up as well.

Dr. Bailey stopped in the doorway and turned to look back at Meredith.

"I am sorry," Meredith apologized sincerely.

Bailey smiled. "It is hard," was all she said before she left the office.

Meredith fell back in her chair, with her mind in complete haze. This was the first time when she found herself put in the situation of choosing between work and her daughter. This was the first time she understood why her mother hadn't agreed with her pregnancy also. Her thoughts immediately drifted to Derek and the calm he had showed at lunch. He knew what Bailey wanted to say to her and he was still calm about it. So he had a solution. Meredith stood up and left the office, going to find Derek and talk to him. Meredith was stubborn and she didn't want to admit that she needed someone's help, but this time it was about her daughter and about her daughter's childhood. If Derek knew how to help her, then she was going to ask for his help.

"Hey," Derek greeted her with a smile when they met in the elevator, minutes later.

"Hi," Meredith smiled and stepped in.

"Did you talk to Bailey?" Derek asked her, sounding matter-of-factly.

"I did," she nodded. She put her hands into the pockets and nervously started shifting her weight from one leg to another.

"What are you going to do now?" Derek asked her.

Meredith stopped from fussing and looked questioningly at him. That was a question that needed his answer.

"I… I don't know," she muttered.

"I understand your frustration," Derek sighed. "Last week Morgan didn't see me for two days in row, but the third day I had the day off and I spent it with her. I think she still knows I am there for her. She'll get used to our life style as long as we make sure we spent a little quality time with her."

"So you say I should focus more on work?" Meredith asked, not wanting to believe what he was saying was true.

"No. I am not saying that," he answered, calm. "That's a decision you should make. I am just trying to encourage you. Support you and be there for you."

"Derek, you looked so calm about it earlier," she said. "Why were you? Because the situation, as I see it, is quite complicated. I don't want to choose between my career and my daughter. I want both."

"That's why you need something to make you rock," Derek replied with a smirk.

"Something to make me rock?" Meredith lifted her brow, questioning.

Derek chuckled and nodded. "And I will help you. I could help you today, actually. Only if you're able to be a rock star."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, very confused now.

As the elevator stopped and people stepped in, Derek winked at her and made her a sign to stay quiet. At the next floor, Derek put a hand on Meredith's back and led her out of the elevator. They walked along the hall until Derek opened the door that led to the stairwell and both walked in there.

Derek took a look up and down the stairs and turned to Meredith, whispering secretively. "Do you know Dr. Morris?"

Meredith was still confused with what Derek wanted. She thought about it and nodded. "He's the new resident."

"A very lousy resident, which is under my service today," he whispered. "I have to consult a cerebral Arteriovenous malformation to a young woman."

Meredith gasped as she stared at Derek in amazement, and Derek knew she was impressed and tempted.

"That's rare," Meredith said then. "What are you going to do? How are you going to treat it? Can you treat it?"

"I won't favor you, Meredith," Derek chuckled. "I just told you I would help you. You have to earn my help though."

Meredith frowned, "I don't want you to favor me either. I can't do this," she sighed with resignation. "It's not fair to Morris. I don't want him to lose a consult like this because of me."

"As I said, Morris is a moron and he got under my service today just because he is the nephew of Dr. Richard. He will lose the consult anyway. And you'll lose it too. Another resident might have the chance to assist me."

"I should be around when you present the case. Right?" she asked, more willing of receiving a tiny favor now.

Derek nodded, smiling. "Just a couple of questions. Or you can go down in ER and hunt some good cases. It could take you days to find something awesome," he teased her.

"The internship is a dirty game. You don't have to respect all the rules," she concluded. "Count me in."

"Don't get so excited. As you said, it's a game and therefore, there are other players in this game besides you."

"Yeah, ok," Meredith shrugged, very confident on herself.

Derek chuckled, pleased to see Meredith's confidence. He had no doubt that Meredith would succeed in winning the consult.

"Speaking of hunt…" Meredith giggled.

Derek laughed, "Cristina is really dreaming about him, isn't she?"

"Wishing and hoping," Meredith laughed too.

"I am not sure when he's due to arrive, but I will keep you posted."

"Ok."

As Derek went to attend his special case, Meredith also tried to look busy around his patient's room and so she got Dr. Morris off the case effortlessly. The rest of the day, she stood under Derek's service and had the chance to attend other neurological consults and even an operable aneurysm.

Meredith followed Dr. Bailey's advice and asked to be assigned in the pit or in ER as much as possible. Claudia started bringing Morgan at hospital every day and that helped Meredith's moral, so that Meredith wasn't finding the shifts so hard, though she was arriving home very late, long after Morgan had fallen asleep.

Morgan on the other hand, couldn't get used to the schedule her Mommy had for the next two weeks as she didn't have as many things to keep her mind busy with as her Mommy had. She tolerated it for a while, but now, after two weeks, she was letting everyone know that she wasn't happy.


	42. Chapter 42

Derek loved being parent to Morgan. Morgan was, besides a very lovely little girl, also very smart. The moments he priced the most were of course the moments spent with Meredith and Morgan. Though she was still a baby, Morgan started showing her personality already. When she wasn't happy about something, she was letting everyone know until she was happy. Derek proved to handle better than Meredith Morgan's little tantrums. He was sure on himself each time he had to take care of Morgan, feed her, wash her, change her diapers, play with her.

This evening though was overwhelming to Derek too and Morgan seemed to be more handful than ever.

Besides the kitchen, the rest of the house was quiet. In kitchen, Cujo was lying down, quietly watching people around Morgan.

Derek and Claudia were trying to make Morgan eat her dinner. At the moment, Morgan's favorite food was rice with lots of carrots. Claudia made sure that Morgan would have her favorite food for dinner. At first, Morgan let Derek feed her; then she started fussing and slapping Derek's hand each time he was bringing the spoon to her mouth.

"Come on, Morgan," Derek insisted softly, trying to bring the spoon to Morgan's mouth. "I know you're hungry. You have to be hungry."

But Morgan whimpered and turned her head away from the spoon, firmly refusing the food. Instead, she stuffed her thumb into her mouth and started weeping quietly.

Derek looked questioningly at Claudia. Besides the time when she was milk formulas, Morgan wasn't choosey about the food. "When did you say she had the milk?"

"Five hours ago," Claudia answered. "She has to be hungry because this is her meal schedule. She respects it every day."

Derek sighed, a little worried as he looked at Morgan. "Could it be something wrong with her?" he asked himself. He picked Morgan up from the high chair, something that surprisingly Morgan didn't like as she started crying.

"She has been cranky all day today," Claudia stated. "She has been cranky a lot lately."

"Does she sleep enough?" Derek asked her.

"Sometimes more than usual," she nodded.

"Then what's wrong?" Derek asked, carefully looking at Morgan.

Morgan propped her hand on Derek's chest, she put the thumb into her mouth and looked at Derek with a frown. When Derek smiled at her, Morgan took the thumb out and let a healthy cry escape her mouth.

"What's wrong, Morgan?" Derek asked softly, bouncing her slowly. He started pacing around the kitchen, hoping that would help Morgan calm down.

Morgan had her reasons for being unhappy but she couldn't tell the grown-ups other way than crying. She started fussing and when Derek laid her to his chest, she clutched his shirt and started crying harder.

Derek kept pacing and rocking her, now and then kissing her. "She can't be sick," he muttered under his breath. "Dr. Robbins saw her last week."

While Derek tried to calm Morgan down, Claudia stood aside and kept her calm. She could see Derek panicking and unable to think clear. She tried to understand what was going on with Morgan. She had a lot of experience with babies and she was almost positive that nothing wrong was going with Morgan; nothing medical anyway. As she watched Derek and Morgan, Claudia noticed something unusual. Cujo was still sitting down, watching father and daughter, but he wasn't barking as usual when Morgan was crying. Claudia nodded to herself. Nothing was physically wrong with Morgan or Cujo would have let everyone know.

"Maybe she misses Meredith," she told Derek. "Do you remember when I first came here and Meredith had to go back to work? She's missing her Mommy's presence."

Derek listened carefully to Claudia's reasoning. He stopped from pacing and nodded, thoughtful. He lifted Morgan upright in his arms so that he could look into her eyes. "Is this why are you so upset? Do you miss Mommy?" he asked her.

Morgan didn't seem to be listening to him as she kept crying.

"Mommy will be home early tonight and she'll spent time with you. I promise," he told Morgan, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. "If you eat your dinner, we can call mommy and tell her to come home sooner. You don't want Mommy to find us upset, do you?"

Maybe it was the number of times Derek had said the word 'mommy' or maybe it was the reassurance in Derek's voice, but baby Morgan stopped from crying. She sniffed and kept weeping, but the crying seemed to have stopped. Derek wiped Morgan's cheeks and kissed her.

"What happened to the times when didn't need anything else if you had me?" Derek asked Morgan.

Claudia giggled as she heard that. "Oh Derek. You two need to learn how to share Morgan's affection or I can see you fighting like two kids on the playground."

Derek just grinned at her.

"I'll go call Meredith and see when she's coming home," Claudia told Derek.

"I am not sure if alarming her is wise," Derek mused. Meredith could drop the scalpel and ran out of the OR if she heard that something was not right with Morgan. "I talked to her earlier and she said she would be home within an hour," Derek told her. "I think we should let her calm down by herself now," he sighed, looking at Morgan. "She'll eat when Mommy gets home. Right, Morgan?"

Morgan had her fingers stuffed into her mouth and so she crankily whimpered. Derek walked out the kitchen and Cujo stood up following them into the living room. In there, Morgan had a blanket laid on the carpet with toys on it. Derek put her down and gave her one of toys. Morgan slapped it away instead and rolled onto her side while Cujo lay next to her, sniffing all over her face. Morgan prattled something as she reached with her hand to Cujo's nose and started pinching it.

"Look at them," Derek chuckled, folding his arms against his chest as he watched the interaction between the dog and the baby.

"It will never stop amazing you," Claudia pointed out.

"Do you think he really understands what she needs?"

"It looks like it."

"Yeah," Derek sighed, exhausted. "You can leave if you want to or you can stay for dinner."

"I made some pastas and a roast chicken for your dinner, but I won't stay," Claudia smiled. "I received another invitation already."

"Oh," Derek chuckled when he saw Claudia brushing.

"Shut up. I am too old for dating," Claudia giggled sheepishly.

"Says who? Besides, love has no age."

"Oh Derek," Claudia giggled and left back in the kitchen.

Derek looked down at Morgan. She was still pinching Cujo's nose and still whimpering. Derek crouched beside her and ran his fingers over Morgan's hand. Morgan didn't even seem to notice his presence there anymore, so Derek sighed and gave up on his intensions of playing with Morgan.

It didn't pass long and Derek and Claudia heard a car pulling in their drive way. A minute later, Meredith opened the door, carrying a huge smile on her face.

"I am home!" she called from the doorway, giggling as she shut it.

Does were like magic words to Morgan. She didn't know what those words meant, but she did recognize her Mommy's voice. Morgan panted a little as she rolled over and stood up in her bum and suddenly, her face lit up as looked up and spotted her mommy. She squealed and clapped her hands with joy.

With such greeting coming from Morgan, there was not even place for a 'hello' from Derek or Claudia. Besides the fact that she hadn't seen her daughter too much, Meredith was thrilled with Morgan's joy.

Claudia smiled and knowingly nodded her head at Derek as they watched the scene.

Everyone gasped then.

As her mommy seemed not to come and take her any time soon- as Meredith was taking her jacket off- Morgan got on her knees and hands and wanted to crawl. After the first step she made, Morgan lost her energy and gave up, falling down on her stomach and whimpering.

Meredith hurried to pick her up. Once she was in her Mommy's arms, the whimpers were forgotten and Morgan stuffed a finger into her mouth, giggling at her Mommy.

"Did you just try to crawl?" Meredith asked her. "Did she?" she asked the others, not believing.

Derek came beside her, his face broken by the huge smile he was carrying. He kissed Morgan and then Meredith. "I guess she tried."

"Aww," Meredith giggled, pressing kisses on Morgan's cheeks. "My baby is growing."

"Every day," Derek nodded, rubbing small circles on Morgan's back.

"This is a great day," Meredith sighed with a huge smile on her face.

"Something great must have happened at work," said Derek, wanting to find out.

Meredith smiled proudly. "But the most amazing thing was the greeting Morgan made me," she cooed at her baby and Morgan giggled in response. Meredith kissed her, laughing along with her. "It was crazy today in the ER with all the rain and car accidents. Between the patients there was also a 3-years-old boy; the impact between his mom's car and another vehicle was so huge that the boy was trapped inside the twisted car. You can imagine all the damage. I received him and as no attending answered immediately I had to cut him open and stop bleeding," Meredith started telling Derek and Claudia about the event from her day with such exhilaration that she had to stop and take a deep breath. "And then the Chief showed up and after he saw what I had done, he asked me to finish the surgery into an OR. He assisted me only."

"You got your first solo?" Derek laughed.

Meredith grinned proudly and nodded, "I did."

Derek pulled her into his arms, hugging her. "I assume the boy is going to be fine," he said, making a step back. "Otherwise you wouldn't be all grinning."

"Of course," she laughed. "I saved a life today."

Derek smiled, looking into her eyes. He cupped her face and kissed her softly on the lips. "I am proud of you."

The closure between the grown-ups, having her between them, didn't like Morgan so much. She started fussing and weeping, asking to have her Mommy for herself only.

"I think she's ready for dinner," Derek stated, caressing Morgan's head.

"Dinner is ready," announced Claudia. "Congratulations, Meredith."

"Thank you," Meredith smiled. "Why hasn't she eaten yet?" she asked Claudia and Derek.

"Because she knew she would have something to celebrate with her mommy," Derek chuckled. "Claudia is going out on a date, by the way."

Meredith stared at Derek for a moment, confused. Then she looked at Claudia and saw her blushing. Meredith giggled. "That's great, Claudia."

"It's not a date," Claudia answered sheepishly. "He's an old friend of mine."

"Widow, I hope," Derek joked.

Meredith elbowed him, scowling his inappropriate joke.

"I'll leave you celebrate," Claudia stated. "I have to go and get ready."

"Of course," Meredith nodded.

Claudia said her goodbye to Morgan, also congratulating her for her first small crawl. Now that she had the whole family at home with her, Morgan was ready to serve her dinner. She sat on her Mommy's lap and let her feed her, while Meredith told Derek more about her first solo surgery.

Dinner was over for Morgan and as she started fussing, Meredith soon had to finish her dinner too.

"Morgan and I are going upstairs and get ready for bed," Meredith told Derek.

"Sure and you leave all the work on my care," Derek pretended to frown.

Meredith giggled, shifting Morgan in her arms. "Do you want us to wash the dishes? Tell him Morgan; tell him that princesses don't wash dishes."

Derek chuckled, shaking his head with disapproval, "Oh yes. Princesses do wash dishes when they found their prince and he asked them to."

Meredith stuck her tongue out childishly. "The princesses haven't found their prince yet," she giggled and spun on her heels, walking out of the kitchen.

"I do know someone that holds a priceless ring on her finger," Derek called after her.

Meredith just smiled as she looked down at her ring. She giggled at Morgan and gave her a kiss before they headed up the stairs. Meredith took Morgan into her room, this way she could strip her clothes and take her pajamas. As she sat her on the table, Meredith felt something pressing against her leg.

Cujo was patting her with his nose, whimpering.

Meredith bit her lip, smiling guiltily, "We forgot to take you out, huh?"

Cujo ran out of the room, stopping in front of the door on the hallway. Meredith picked Morgan up then and went outside, calling at Derek from the top of the stairs, "Can you take Cujo out? He needs to release his needs."

Meredith heard Derek's chuckle in the kitchen. "You know you should consider paying your maid at some point."

"I'll take care of the maid later on," Meredith giggled. "I'll even consider some tip."

Derek started laughing then. "Cujo!"

Hearing his name, Cujo happily hurried down the stairs.

Meredith and Morgan entered Meredith's room then. She had a better idea of bathing Morgan. Meredith put Morgan in the middle of the bed and then she walked into the bathroom. She turned the water on, poured some liquid for bubbles and let the bathtub fill.

In the meantime, left alone in the bed, Morgan started rolling onto her stomach and then back onto her back. Meredith gasped as she saw how energetically she was moving, and hurried to pick her up.

"Why do I have the feeling that you'll make us run after you when you'll be on your feet?"

Morgan stuffed her fingers into her mouth and giggled at her mommy. Meredith giggled too. She took Morgan's diaper off and cleaned her, just then they were ready for their bubble bath.

Meredith brought two little ducks for Morgan with them. Morgan wondered as she saw them floating onto the water and started staring at them carefully. Her attention was distracted then by the bubbles that Meredith was blowing into her face. Meredith laughed at Morgan's cute curiosity and the surprise on her face.

"Mommy's going to spend the whole day with you tomorrow," Meredith spoke softly in Morgan's ear. "I know you haven't seen me much lately, but mommy has a busy job. She has to work at the hospital and help people feel better when they're sick." Meredith sighed, feeling disappointed with herself. It was more difficult to her to be parent and resident doctor than she had expected. "I'd like you to be patient with me," she told Morgan. "I promise that each free time off I have I will spend it with you. We might not have too much time to spend together, but I can assure you that it will be quality time. Tomorrow, we'll go visit the little boy I saved today, then we'll do some shopping... because you keep growing. Then, if the weather is fine, then we'll go to the park too and have a walk with Cujo. Tomorrow, you'll have me for yourself only. Then we'll have the weekend when we go to New York and visit Derek's mom and his sisters." Meredith paused, taking a deep breath. "You don't have to be nervous about the visit. They will definitely love you. As for me... I don't care what his sisters think of me. Oh yes," Meredith remembered. "We have to start packing. You'll have your first flight with the airplane. I don't know why, but I think it will be a flight to remember."

Meredith was talking to Morgan, but actually, she was talking to herself. Therefore, she didn't even notice the curious gaze her daughter was holding on her. Meredith giggled and ran her wet hand through Morgan's soft hair, washing it at once. "How I wish I could look into your mind now. You have such an expressive look in your eyes when we talk to you."

Morgan prattled something and let the duck fell off her hands. She started slapping the water then, giggling at the contact with the water. Meredith laughed as she made small waves with her hand and Morgan gasped each time her Mommy sent a wave towards her.

"Morgan?" Meredith called Morgan's name.

Morgan looked up at her.

"Promise me that you'll tell me when you feel neglected," Meredith told her.

Morgan was watching her, clueless. Meredith smiled at her and just then Morgan answered with a giggle.

Derek found them in the bathtub when he came back from his walk with Cujo. "Now that's a great tip," he smirked at them, unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Meredith spat.

Derek looked confused. "Joining the family."

"I don't think so," Meredith shook her head. "At least not completely naked."

"She's little," Derek chuckled.

"And innocent," Meredith pointed out.

Derek shook his head, smiling. "I wasn't going to get naked in the bathtub."

"Derek, the water is getting cold anyway. But you can dry her and dress her."

Derek was a little disappointed, but then he still had the rest of the evening to spend with his girls. "You just wait and see how much fun we'll have in New York," he cooed at Morgan as he picked her up into a towel.


	43. Chapter 43

Derek felt something fussing beside him in bed. It wasn't Meredith because the mattress wasn't shifting. It could have been Cujo, he thought then; but Cujo always slept in Morgan's room. Then it clicked to him. Morgan had slept with them during the night.

Derek opened his eyes, heavy of sleep, and the first thing he saw in the dim light of the dawn was Morgan, rolled onto her side, facing Derek. She had her thumb into her mouth and her other hand was slapping the place between her and Derek. Derek rubbed his face and held a smile on his face as he watched Morgan's apparently restless sleep.

Morgan sighed loudly and she stopped slapping, resting her hand along her body now. Not wanting to disturb her, Derek pulled the quilt upper on her small frame and ran a finger over a strand of hair. Though he had barely touched her, Morgan slowly started opening her eyes. She briefly watched Derek as if she was seeing through him. Then she yawned and raised her hand, throwing it to Derek.

Derek chuckled quietly and caught her hand after it had slapped his nose. He gave a kiss to her hand and scooted closer to Morgan.

Morgan was still sleepily watching him, but she managed to grab the tip of his nose in her tiny hand. Derek let her and just watched her. She soon got bored of Derek's nose, so she rolled onto her back and looked at the other side of the bed where her Mommy was sleeping. She rolled towards her then and reached to touch her.

Derek pulled her back as he saw that. It was very early in the morning and he knew how much sleep Meredith needed, especially in her first day off in weeks.

Morgan didn't like that very much, but Derek took her into his arms and, lying onto his back, he put her on his chest and kissed the top of her head. When Derek ran his hand over her back and his hand crossed her arm, Morgan reached for his hand. She grabbed his finger and did her favorite thing; she put it into her mouth.

Derek chuckled as he felt her tiny teeth biting his finger. Her first teeth he knew seemed to have grown bigger and a few others started growing as well. With Morgan in that moment, Derek had that feeling again; his life felt complete; like he didn't need anything else anymore; maybe just another baby. But Derek still felt satisfied with what he had. In response to his thoughts and feelings, he gave Morgan another kiss.

Morgan spit his finger out and started fussing until she propped herself onto her forearms and looked at Derek. She giggled and tried to reach for his face again.

Derek knew then that she wasn't going to go back to sleep any time soon and so, not to disturb Meredith, he stood up from bed with Morgan in his arms. Once Derek was out of bed, Cujo was up too, ready to follow them wherever they were going. Derek carried Morgan outside the room, wanting to check her diaper before starting their day.

Cleaned now, Morgan put her thumb into her mouth, her head down on Derek's shoulder and let him carry her downstairs, where he was going to prepare her the breakfast. Cujo ran ahead to the front door, laying down and whimpering to be left outside.

"Be a little patient, Cujo," Derek told him as he and Morgan headed to the kitchen.

In there, Derek put Morgan in her chair and then started preparing her a milk formula. Morgan stood still in her chair for a little while, until she started rubbing her eyes and whimpering.

"I should have known that you're still sleepy," Derek sighed. He looked around the counter and tried to find something to give Morgan and distract her from whatever was bothering her in that moment.

Derek spotted the envelope with their airplane tickets for New York.

"Look what do I have here," Derek smiled and waved the envelope.

That was like a magic movement and the envelope had Morgan's attention. She stuffed her fingers into her mouth and carefully looked at the envelope Derek was holding.

Derek took out a ticket, putting the envelope aside, and showed it to Morgan. "This is out airplane ticket to go see Grandma Carolyn. You remember Grandma Carolyn, right?"

Being closer to her now, Morgan reached for the ticket and Derek gave it to her.

"Are you nervous about the airplane trip tomorrow?" he asked her. "We know we are."

Morgan was carefully holding the ticket with one hand, analyzing it before doing anything else. Derek left her with the ticket and went back to finish her milk.

Having her bottle ready and Cujo still whimpering at the door to go outside, Derek decided to give Morgan a special breakfast. He left her alone with Cujo in the kitchen for a minute while he went to bring her a jacket. He took one for him too and after he dressed Morgan and pulled the hood over her head, Derek and Cujo went outside in the small backyard of their house.

Derek took a seat in a chair, with Morgan on his lap. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cold, fresh morning air. Opening his eyes, Derek saw the bright, red light of the sun striking the horizon.

"It looks like you and mommy are going to have a great day today," he kissed Morgan, giving her the bottle. "You have to ask her to take you for a walk in the park."

Morgan lay back and started sucking from the bottle, lifting the ticket higher so that she could watch the colorful piece of paper better. Because it looked safe, Derek didn't bother to take it.

"We'll have to keep this secret from Mommy because she'll go crazy if she finds out how early I took you out," Derek spoke to Morgan's ear. "You know, one day, very soon, we'll move into a new house; bigger than this one and with a huge backyard for you and Cujo to play in. You'll even have a swing and a slide too if you want to." Derek kissed the top of her head and couldn't help but smile at the picture inside his head. "Maybe a small toy house for you and your friends, but one thing don't ask; a tree house. As exciting as it sounds, I don't want to see you in a tree until you are old enough for it. And I won't accept any tantrum to that."

Morgan started fussing in his arms again and what Derek didn't notice was that Morgan had dropped the ticket. Helpful, Cujo was there to help her and picked it up with his mouth. Only when Cujo came in front of Derek, proudly holding the airplane ticket in his teeth, Derek noticed it.

He let out a gasped and jumped up, shifting Morgan on his hip. "Put that down, Cujo."

Cujo just waggled his tail. Whatever Derek was saying, it sounded like playing to him and so he took a step back.

"Cujo, give that to me," Derek ordered, bending to take the ticket from the dog.

Same as Cujo, Morgan found the moment very entertaining. She was watching the interaction between her friend and her Daddy, giggling each time Derek was taking a step forward and Cujo two steps back.

"That's not funny," Derek softly scolded her and shifted her on his other hip. He crouched at Cujo's level and tried not to look either playful or angry with the dog. He held his hand out and asked Cujo again to bring him the ticket.

This time, Cujo complied and dropped it in front of Derek.

Derek made a grimace as he picked up the ticket and carefully looked for any damage. Besides being a little crumpled by Morgan and having a tooth imprint on it, the ticket still looked whole. Reading it, Derek saw it was precisely his ticket.

He shook his head as he stood up and went back to his chair. "You know you're not going anywhere without Daddy. At least your Mommy's isn't," Derek told Morgan, placing her on his lap. Morgan wanted to take the ticket again, but Derek didn't let her this time and put it on the table. He lay Morgan onto his arms then and started rocking her slowly. "And dogs eat homework, not airplane tickets."

Morgan had her fingers into her mouth and looked into Derek's eyes as he kept rocking her.

"You're going to be a naughty girl," Derek sighed and smiled down at Morgan. "You and your friend Cujo… I sense trouble."

As reply to that, Morgan let out a giggle.

"I know. I am right," Derek laughed. He leaned down and kissed her. "Don't worry. Naughty isn't such bad thing." He ran his hand over her forehead and readjusted the hood onto her head. "Your Mommy is scared that I might not love you anymore once she and I have another baby, but she's completely wrong. And you know that already, of course."

Morgan was staring into his eyes, looking as if she was indeed listening to him.

Derek gently stroked her cheek. "You'll have to work with me and convince Mommy to give you a little brother or sister."

Curiously, Morgan showed a frown as Derek was saying that, confusing Derek. He was a brain surgeon, but he still knew a little about brains and therefore, most of the times he was sure that Morgan understood at least a little from what people were telling her.

"Help me and I will help you each time you get in trouble," Derek warned her, smiling at her. "I know some of your genes and I assure you that you'll need my help."

Morgan battered her eyelashes innocently. She put her thumb into her mouth and watched Derek quietly as he kept rocking her.

Derek knew that being a father to Morgan wasn't the same with being uncle to his nieces and nephews. He was a little scared that he might fell into an extreme and be either too indulgent with Morgan and spoil her or too exigent and have a stiff education. One thing he was sure of; it was difficult not to spoil Morgan.

"We'll figure this out somehow," Derek said to himself, sighing. Leaning down and kissing Morgan, he saw her drifting back to sleep. "Let's go back to Mommy," he whispered, standing up and entering the house.

It was too late for him to go back to sleep, so he just put Morgan back in bed beside Meredith.

Meredith scooted closer to her daughter as she felt the little hustle in the room and, feeling Morgan's cold cheek, she sleepily told Derek, "Turn the heat a little higher," and tucked the quilt around her and her daughter's.

Derek placed a kiss on Meredith's cheek. "I'll see you later."

Meredith moaned and nodded sleepily as she kept sleeping with her daughter and Cujo down at their bed.

------------------

Same as earlier that morning, Morgan woke up before the grown-up. Slowly opening her eyes, Morgan found herself in bed with her Mommy and Cujo, who was sleeping down at their feet. Morgan rubbed her fists against her eyes, yawning, and when she let her hands down the bed, she met a piece of paper.

Prattling, she rolled onto her side and grabbed the piece of paper, falling back onto her back then and taking the paper to her mouth.

As Morgan kept prattling and wriggling her hands and legs, Meredith received her wake-up call as well. She had a smile on her face as she rolled to her baby girl. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light of the morning and she had to make an effort to figure out what Morgan was holding in her hands. As she saw the piece of paper, Meredith took it from Morgan and narrowed her eyes as she read it.

_'The dog has been walked, the baby has been changed and fed; the coffee might still be warm in the kitchen. Yes, I am that perfect._

_Derek'_

Meredith giggled as she read that, a little confused as she didn't know what exactly Derek was talking about.

Because her Mommy was awake now too, Morgan turned to her, rolling onto her stomach, right next to her. It had been long since she last cuddled with her Mommy, so she put her thumb into her mouth and curled beside Meredith's body. Meredith also rolled onto her side, receiving her baby beside her, and wrapped her into a light embrace. She kissed the top of her head and nuzzled through her hair, breathing her in and listening to the soft sound of her sucking. It sounded so familiar and Meredith easily remembered of the time when she was breast feeding her. She also remembered how Morgan liked to hold tight on her finger and so, Meredith opened Morgan's fist and Morgan grabbed her finger, her grip soon tightening. Meredith closed her eyes and just enjoyed the moment.

Morgan enjoyed it too, but only for a while. She started fussing, slapping lightly her Mommy's abdomen, asking to have their day started.

Meredith sighed and reluctantly pushed the quilt off them. Though she had had a good, long night sleep, she could still feel the exhaustion of the past weeks. She stretched her body before she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. As she stood up and Cujo jumped off the bed, Morgan started weeping, asking not to be left alone there. Meredith leaned over the bed and picked her baby up. Morgan stopped from weeping then and put her head down on Meredith's shoulder. Meredith took the phone and dialed Derek's number as she made her way out of the bedroom.

"I thought you were ignoring me," Derek answered with a chuckle.

Meredith giggled. "I would have, but I am confused about the note you left me."

"Yeah," Derek chuckled. "That was available hours ago. Now the coffee is cold for sure, Morgan needs her breakfast and probably Cujo has collected something in his bladder."

"Shame on me," Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling.

"You believe me I tried to be that perfect, do you?" Derek chuckled teasingly.

"I lean to believe you," she answered with a giggle. "I am getting Morgan ready after breakfast and we come to the hospital. I want to check on my patient. Then I think I need to do some shopping for tomorrow and I have to give Morgan a sunbath in the park."

"Your day sounds much exciting than mine," Derek pretended to pout.

"It is actually," she giggled. "I will see you in a while."

"You mean, 'we'll see you in a while',"

"Yeah, that," Meredith laughed.

"Ok, then see you in a while."

As they hung up, Meredith reached into the kitchen. She disposed the phone on the counter and went to check the coffee pot. The coffee was cold indeed now. She strapped Morgan in her high chair and started getting their breakfast ready.


	44. Chapter 44

Morgan had a blissful day with her Mommy that day. They visited their friends in the park, did some shopping for their trip to New York and bought gifts for Morgan's cousins. Because Meredith seemed to be getting more nervous about meeting Derek's family, Derek took her and Morgan out to dinner, making Morgan fall asleep during the ferryboat ride.

The next morning, Derek received a call from the hospital and decided to go and attend that case, hoping that he would be out the OR soon enough to catch their flight.

To make sure that they wouldn't be late at the airport, Derek asked Meredith to bring Morgan and their luggage to the hospital, so they could leave as soon as he was done.

Morgan seemed to have had a good morning despite the fact that she was breaking up with Cujo for the weekend. From the moment her Mommy took her out of the car, Morgan drew attention over her. In her cranky days, Morgan didn't like too much attention, but in her brighter days, she just loved playing shy and this enchanted people even more.

Meredith got off the elevator on the surgical floor, where she thought she would find Derek.

"Morgan!" Izzie greeted them right away with a cheerful beam and dropped whatever she was doing to come to them.

Morgan did her thing and played shy, hiding her face against Meredith's shoulder, peaking at Izzie from the corner of her eyes.

"Look at you how pretty you are," Izzie cooed and, as she was already considered Morgan's aunt, she didn't ask permission of taking Morgan from her Mommy.

Morgan protested a little at first, fussing in Izzie's arms, but as Izzie tossed her up in the air, she stuffed her fingers into her mouth and giggled, delighted with Izzie's attention.

"Don't disturb her stomach, please," Meredith sighed, looking a little sleep-deprived. "I want her stomach to be strong for the flight."

Izzie just smiled and settled Morgan into her arms. "Admit it. You're more nervous about meeting Derek's family and not really about Morgan's flight."

Meredith rolled her eyes, but didn't contradict Izzie. "Have you seen Derek?"

"I heard George that he was going to scrub in with him to another surgery," Izzie answered while smoothing Morgan's baby blue dress and smiling at each other. Morgan giggled shyly and hid her face away. "She's adorable," Izzie laughed and couldn't help not to kiss her.

"Yeah," Meredith answered, thoughtful. "Another surgery? Did he change the flight?"

Izzie looked at Meredith and shook her head. "The surgery is about to end." Then she added, watching Meredith through narrowed eyes, "You have some serious socialization issues."

Meredith gasped, outraged with Izzie's statement. "You, people, have to stop saying this about me. It's not true. I am a doctor and my job is to attend other people and therefore, socialize with them."

Izzie nodded knowingly. "This can't be good either. You're able to socialize with sick people only." She shrugged her shoulders and moved her attention on Morgan again. "Maybe he has a sick family member. This way you could get along with at least one of them."

Meredith didn't want to argue with Izzie and decided to ignore her comment. Only Derek and Dr. Bailey knew that Meredith was taking therapy session with a shrink and so, whatever issues she was having, she had started to deal with them.

As she spotted Cristina coming towards them, Meredith hoped that her day would get a little better. But as Cristina was approaching, Meredith easily read her bitter face and could tell that something had pissed her off.

"You're not gone yet," was Cristina observation. She ran a finger through Morgan's hair and had her attention now as Morgan reached with her hand to her, waving it.

Izzie wanted to pass Morgan to Cristina, knowing the great friendship between them, but Cristina shook her head, refusing. "I am in such bad mood," she grumbled, playing with a lock of Morgan's hair.

Meredith looked at Izzie, questioning. Izzie just shrugged.

"We can see that," Meredith replied.

"There's nothing interesting down in the pit," Cristina went on with the grumble.

"We can see that too," Meredith giggled. "I am sure your day will get much better, maybe sooner than you expect."

Cristina lifted a brow as she shifted her gaze on Meredith. Meredith smiled knowingly. There was another thing she was keeping from her friends, from Cristina in particular. Dr. Owen Hunt was expected to come at Seattle Grace that day and talk to the Chief.

Morgan started fussing and weeping in Izzie's arms as Cristina was late in taking her from Izzie. She knew she was an adorable baby and none could resist her and Cristina's attitude toward her seemed to frustrate her.

"Here," Izzie carefully pushed Morgan to Cristina's arms. "Shine your day."

"Ugh," Cristina groaned with exasperation, but she also made sure that Morgan was safely and comfortably sitting in her arms. "I need something good. No offense, Morgan," she started talking to the baby. "I need something bigger than you."

Meredith started laughing as she associated Cristina's words with her secret. Owen Hunt was definitely bigger than Morgan. "Be optimistic," Meredith encouraged her.

"When you'll be optimistic about this trip, then I will be too," Cristina replied.

Meredith just smiled. "You can't compare my situation to yours."

Cristina was about to reply when she let out a gasp and then froze, staring at Meredith with a horrified look in her eyes.

"Is she causing herself a heart-attack to treat herself afterwards?" Izzie asked Meredith, carefully watching Cristina.

Meredith looked around, thinking that Cristina might have seen Owen. At the first sight, he didn't seem to be anywhere close. "Cristina, you're holding my child, so please act normal; more normal than usual."

"I…I think something fell in Morgan's diaper," Cristina muttered.

"Her diaper fell?" Meredith asked, confused.

"No, but it felt like it could have." Cristina quickly passed Morgan to her mother. "Something inside the diaper moved."

Taking Morgan from Cristina, Meredith could easier understand her now. "She pooped."

"Oh no," Cristina groaned, grimacing with exaggeration. "'Shine my day' my ass."

"Cristina, watch your language," Meredith scolded. "The diaper is safe."

"That's right," Izzie giggled and in the same time, she took Morgan from Meredith and directed her to Cristina's face. "And it doesn't let the smell out either."

"Izz," Meredith laughed and took Morgan back. "I have to change Morgan and then find Derek. I hope you'll feel better when I come back from New York or someone else might be suspected of socialization issues."

As Meredith turned to find an on call room, someone blocked her way. Before she could see who that person was, Cristina was at her side and Meredith could feel the exhilaration in her breathing.

"Dr. Hunt?" Cristina asked, unable of hiding the thrill in her voice.

Dr. Hunt smiled at the three women, but as any other person that liked babies, Morgan had his full attention. "Ms. Morgan keeps growing. Beautifully," he made the compliment, gently stroking Morgan's cheek.

Morgan let out a giggle and, with her fingers into her mouth, she turned her head away, looking over Meredith's shoulder.

"Hello, Dr. Hunt," Meredith smiled. "You made it here."

"I did," he replied with a chuckle. "Safely and … happy to be here. The same you'll feel like when you get to New York."

Meredith frowned a little, taking his words as tease.

"Honestly, the trip is safe. By all meanings," he encouraged her.

Cristina cut in, clearing her throat.

Owen smiled as he looked at her, his eyes lingering on her face and making her heart beat faster. "Cristina. How are you?"

Izzie and Meredith smiled at each other as they noticed the clumsy way Cristina tried to hide her giggle.

"I am good. Working. Uh…" she rambled. Cristina wasn't a person to ramble. Her words always came out coherently. She paused briefly and tried to clear her thoughts. "I took a break, because Morgan came to see us. We won't see her for the weekend."

"She has many friends," Owen was pleasantly surprised to find out.

"I am considered her best friend," Cristina felt like she needed to ask.

Owen chuckled and nodded his head. "I heard that."

"Dr. Hunt," Meredith cut in. "I don't think you met Dr. Izzie Stevens."

He looked at the pretty blonde, smiling politely and holding his hand out. "It's nice meeting you."

"You're the new trauma surgeon, right?" Izzie questioned, shaking his head.

"That's right," he nodded.

"Why don't you pass Morgan to me?" Cristina asked Meredith, looking as she had a plan.

Meredith looked suspiciously at her. "I have to find Derek."

"That's right," Cristina replied quickly. "I will change Morgan's diaper while you find Derek and… do whatever you have to do."

Meredith stared at her and replied in whisper. "You won't change her diaper."

"Why?" Cristina whispered back.

"Because you don't change diapers," she pointed out. "You almost fainted when you felt her pooping."

As Meredith's last words sounded louder than whisper, Cristina flashed Owen a smile. "I was just taken by surprise. I never felt a baby pooping."

"You also never saw the inside of a diaper."

"Just pass her to me," Cristina insisted and discreetly titled her head to back, towards Owen direction, asking Meredith to help her.

Meredith was a little reluctant at first, but then she thought what harm Cristina could do to Morgan. She gave Morgan to Cristina and Cristina carefully took her into her arms. She turned to Owen then and asked, "Would you like to hold her?"

Owen looked questioningly at Meredith. "If her mother doesn't mind."

"She doesn't."

"I don't."

Cristina and Meredith answered in the same time.

"Now go and find Derek," Cristina told Meredith.

"Ok," Meredith sighed. She took Morgan's bag off her shoulder and gave it to Cristina.

"What's this for?"

"For changing her diaper," Meredith rolled her eyes.

"Right," Cristina sighed and reluctantly put the bag on her shoulder.

As Meredith left to find Derek, Izzie laughed. "You're playing with fire," she told Cristina and left too, leaving her alone with Morgan and Owen.

Cristina smiled sheepishly at Owen and asked quietly, "Have you ever changed diapers?"

"I will help you," he laughed.

-------

Minutes later, Meredith found Derek. He was just coming out of the locker room, dressed in his street clothes.

"Hi," he smiled at first as he saw Meredith, but then he noticed that Morgan wasn't with her. "Where's Morgan?"

"With Cristina and Owen," she answered.

"Oh," he chuckled knowingly. "She's taking advantage of my girl."

"She's not," Meredith giggled. "Morgan is just helping her a little. She's a good girl."

Derek nodded and gave Meredith a peck on the cheek. "Just like her Mommy."

"Are we ready to go? I heard you had a busy morning."

"I did, but I am done now," he nodded. "I just need to sign a few papers."

"Ok, then I'm going to page Cristina and tell her to hurry."

"To hurry?"

"She was supposed to change Morgan's diaper while I was looking for you."

"She'd better bring her back clean," Derek frowned.

While Derek went to sign whatever papers he had to sign, Meredith asked a nurse to page Cristina. She knew they were in an on call on the same floor with her, so she gave her 5 minutes. As Cristina didn't show up after 5 minutes, Meredith asked the nurse to page her again. She gave her another 5 minutes. She knew it wasn't easy for a beginner to change a diaper, but Cristina had Owen's help and 10 minutes were more than enough.

Derek caught up with her at the nurses' station and looked around. "Where are Morgan and Cristina?"

"On their way here," Meredith sighed.

"Where did she take her? She took her home to give her a bath too?" Derek asked, slightly impatient.

Meredith rolled her eyes at Derek's exaggeration. "She has never changed diapers before."

"But Owen did," Derek replied.

"I thought he doesn't have children," Meredith looked at him, curious.

"He doesn't, but same as me he has a couple of nephews."

"She will be here in less than a minute."

Derek nodded and tapped his finger against the counter, saying after a few seconds, "It's more than less a minute now. It's almost a full minute."

"Derek," Meredith groaned.

"I hope you didn't ask Cristina to get lost with Morgan so that we lose the flight," Derek reproached.

Meredith gasped, not wanting to believe what he was saying was true. "I don't want to go to New York, but I wouldn't such a low thing."

Derek sighed, feeling remorse for his words. "Page Dr. Yang again," he asked the nurse.

Right then, they saw Owen coming with Morgan.

"I am sorry, guys. There she is," he passed Morgan to Meredith and her bag to Derek. "All clean and ready to fly with the airplane."

"Where's Cristina?" Meredith asked.

Owen started laughing. "She's… cleaning up."

"Don't tell me more. At least she didn't dirt her dress," Meredith laughed too. "Anyway… she offered."

"We have to go now," Derek announced and held his hand out to shake it with Owen.

"Have a nice trip and we'll talk when you get back," Owen told them.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled politely.

"Have fun, Morgan," Owen waved to Morgan as her mother carried her to the elevators.

Morgan put her thumb into her mouth and, settling in her mother's arms, looked questioningly at her. Meredith smiled and brushed the hair out of her forehead, placing a soft kiss on it. "We'll have fun. You'll see," she muttered under her breath, encouraging herself mostly.

Derek heard her and, with a hand on her small back, he kissed her on the cheek, reassuring.

---------

By the time they arrived at the check in office, Morgan was snoozing in Meredith's arms. It wasn't long before their plane was due to take off and both grown-ups felt a little relieved to see that the baby was going to be sleeping during the flight.

As Derek's worries were revolving around Morgan's flight, he forgot about his airplane ticket that Cujo and Morgan had played with. Only when the woman behind the counter cleared her throat and waved the ticket, they remembered.

Derek smiled, a little troubled. "It was a small accident."

"I can see that," the young woman smiled reassuringly. "You should be more careful with what you leave at the baby's reach. The damage could be bigger."

"We'll be more careful," Derek smiled gratefully.

"I know my husband and I paid extra and also missed a day from our trip to Bahamas, because the little one chewed my ticket entirely," she added, joking a little.

"We'll definitely be more careful then," he laughed.

"Have a nice flight," she handed Derek the papers back.

When it was time to board, Morgan was asleep and nothing seemed to be able to disturb her. She passed through the checking point and she didn't even know she was held by a stranger while the checking was made. In the plane, Derek let Morgan sit with Meredith and he took the seat behind them. Meredith closed the drape so that she could shield the sun from Morgan's face.

While the people kept boarding, a young couple stopped by Morgan's seat when their baby spotted Morgan. It was a baby boy, probably around 2 as he looked steady on his feet and exclaimed loudly "Baby!" as he saw Morgan.

"Be quiet, David," his mom shushed gently and smiled apologetically at Meredith as she pushed the boy forward to make him move.

"Baby, Mamma," Meredith heard him saying.

Derek came to see the effect the boy's presence had on Morgan. Besides, shifting her position in her seat and looking away from the passage way, Morgan kept sleeping.

"Let's hope he forgets about her," Derek sighed.

"Let's hope," Meredith sighed and added in whisper, "Otherwise I am teaching him how to fly."

Derek chuckled quietly, nodding in agreement as if he was going to help Meredith if it was necessary. A flight attendant came at their seats, smiling politely and very professionally.

"Please go to your seat. We're all in and we're getting ready for takeoff," she told Derek.

Derek nodded and gave Morgan and Meredith one last look before he went back to his seat.

The flight attendant asked as she watched Morgan's sleeping. "Is she sleeping for long?"

"No and this is her nap time, so I hope she will be sleeping during the whole flight."

"That would be helpful," the attendant chuckled and titled her head discreetly to the seat where the boy David was sitting with his mom. "Call me if you need anything," she asked Meredith.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled.

Meredith buckled her seatbelt and waited impatiently for the plane to be up on the sky. The takeoff was smoothly and she could feel for a moment only the pressure difference. Watching Morgan in all this time, Meredith sighed with relief and was finally able to relax as the takeoff had no effect on Morgan. She had to admit she was surprised. She didn't know Morgan was this tired. Then she thought that maybe the short visit at the hospital and all those people wanting to be around her wore her off.

Despite the fact that now and then David was shouting and arguing with his parents, Morgan didn't bother to listen to that and kept sleeping peacefully.

The captain announced the landing in about 15 minutes and Meredith and Derek, also the flight attending were impressed with Morgan's impeccable behavior. The other passengers, neighbors with Morgan's seat, were enchanted with Morgan's cuteness as she slept and Derek was the one who chatted with them during the flight. Meredith hid in her seat, giggling as she listened to Derek bragging about whatever Morgan had impressed him with.

And so, when they were close to the landing, bored in his seat, David managed to escape his mom's grip and started running through the seats, laughing delighted with his parents' desperate chase.

He ran once past Morgan's seat, in that time paying attention back to his mom and not noticing Morgan. Morgan stirred just a little then. Meredith decided then to take Morgan from her seat and cradle her into her arms. That disturbed Morgan a little too, but once her Mommy started rocking her, she calmed down.

The second time, David ran past their seat, he stopped dead in his track, his eyes locking on the baby in its mother's arms like it was a shiny toy. A big grin painted his face and his finger dangerously pointed to Morgan.

"Baby!" he exclaimed, squealing.

He wanted to come to Morgan, but Derek, hearing the boy's presence near Morgan, held him outside, asking him to be quiet.

His parents finally caught him too and his dad picked him up into his arms.

"Baby!" David started squirming in his dad's arms, protesting. "I wanna tay wid baby, Mamma. I wanna tay."

"David, please be quiet. You can play with the baby after we land," his dad tried to calm him down, making him different promises. "Grandma is waiting for us with many toys. Let's sit nice in our seats and wait for Grandma."

Nothing seemed to satisfy David and that made him scream even harder. Morgan was tired, but she was not that tired and the boy's screams didn't pass unheard.

She opened her eyes, whimpering quietly. Meredith and Derek knew what that meant. Something disturbed her sleep and Morgan always showed great crankiness when that happened.

Meredith lifted her in her arms and Derek sat down beside them, hoping that something would distract her. Her whimper became a weep, but not for long as she rubbed her eyes and looked sleepily around her. She was in a strange place and eyes on her. A flight attendant was at their seats to see if she could help them with something.

Derek took the bottle out of Morgan's bag and gave her some water. Morgan took a few sips only. Somewhere in the background, someone was still crying. Morgan didn't like very much the tension around her; the cry, the attention she had on her and probably the altitude too and she started whimpering, a little louder this time.

Compared to the boy's cry, Morgan's whimper was quiet though and the grown-ups hoped it would stay that way.

During the landing, the flight attendant allowed Meredith to hold Morgan in her arms and this way, Derek could stay beside them.

This time, Morgan felt the pressure difference very well, especially when she felt her ears pocking. Nothing could compare to Morgan's cry now. It was insanely and deafening and even David stopped from crying and calmed down as he heard Morgan.

Morgan started slapping her ears and rubbed her head against Meredith's chest, and when Meredith tried to give her something to suck, she refused firmly.

Meredith looked desperate at Derek, who couldn't help her with anything. He just cupped Morgan's head, covering her ear, and they both hoped the landing would be over soon.

Nothing could make Morgan stop from crying; no attempt her parents had was successful and therefore, everyone had to bear with her cry. Derek could see that the other passengers were getting slightly annoyed with the noise, but they showed comprehension and passion and didn't say anything.

All the crying was wearing Morgan off. She had sweated and her voice was getting horse, so by the time the airplane stopped on the ground, she didn't show as much energy in her cry.

"I thought we had a hysterical child," David's mom joked as she and her family walked past Morgan's seat.

Meredith saw red when she heard that and pushed Derek out of her way to go after that woman. "What did you just say?"

The woman stopped and pretended to look confused. "It was an observation. Not mine only," she shrugged.

"Your hysterical boy started to run around like a wild animal and scream that he wants to play with the baby," Meredith retorted.

The woman gasped, visibly offended by Meredith's words and gave the boy to her husband to hold him. She came back to Meredith. "Did you call my baby an animal?"

"Wild," Meredith added with a sarcastic smile.

Derek cut in quickly as he saw the tension between Meredith and that woman. "Please, everything is over now. We should get off the plane," he added, telling Meredith.

"I want her to take the words back," the woman pointed to Meredith, threatening.

"Why don't you just admit it," Meredith didn't seem to get loose either. "He's the hysterical one and you're even more hysterical than him."

The woman made another step towards her, but Derek and the woman's husband held her back.

"Let's just go, Ash," he tried to calm his wife. "There's nothing you can talk to this people," he added maliciously.

That was all it took Derek to lose the little calm he still had. "Take her or I will throw her out!"

"You'll do what?" the man laughed sarcastically.

That was two men, flight attendants as well, came to break them apart. "Please, they're children, so there's no need for offenses toward them," one of them said.

Derek was the first one that pulled back. He took their handbags and, with an arm around Meredith, he pushed the woman's husband out of their way. The man wanted to respond to his gesture, but the other two men stopped him.

Once the spirits calmed down around her and she was out of the plane, Morgan's whimpers stopped. She put her thumb into her mouth, her head down on Meredith's shoulder and stayed cranky while Derek took their suitcases.

"This was definitely an unforgettable flight," he sighed as he came back to Meredith.

"Which I'd rather turn it into a forgettable one," Meredith sighed too.

"Let's go find mom," he told her, kissing Morgan's forehead.

Morgan whimpered crankily, unwilling of anyone's love.

"See how love is fragile?" Meredith giggled.

"Mine is indestructible and hers is just too young," Derek replied with a smirk.

Meredith smiled and let out a sighed as she stopped for a moment to look at Derek.

"What is it?" he asked her, curious.

"After this flight, I think that meeting your sister will actually be fun. And refreshing," she stated.

Derek narrowed his eyes, looking at her suspiciously. "You're not planning a massacre, are you?"

"We're going to get married, so you should get to know me better than this," Meredith giggled.

Derek smiled and, with a hand on her back, he led their way outside.

"Derek!" they heard someone calling them. "Meredith!"

Looking through the crowd, Derek spotted his mom, waving at them. "She's over there," Derek pointed and led Meredith to her.

"Derek," Carolyn walked up to her son and gave him a hug. She turned to Meredith and Morgan then. "It's so good to see you," she pulled Meredith into her arms.

That was a gesture that Morgan disliked and started squirming in Meredith's arms.

Carolyn pulled back and looked worried at Morgan. "What's wrong?" she asked her parents.

"Bad flight," Derek sighed.

"Hysterical boy to be more precise," Meredith grumbled.

"Mer," Derek scolded her softly.

Meredith rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"She'll be happy to see you once she calms down," Derek reassured his mom, referring to Morgan.

His mother nodded reassuringly and walked them to her car.


	45. Chapter 45

From the airport to home, Morgan fell back asleep and made everyone hopeful that she would wake up in a brighter mood. As Carolyn informed them, Baby Morgan was expected as a celebrity by two of her cousins, Trisha and Anna. Carolyn asked Meredith not to freak out when she would meet them, as 2 3 year-old girls were extremely excited to meet their new cousin, mostly because she was a baby and they adored babies. Trisha was Nancy's daughter and Anna was Kathleen's.

Carolyn also told them that only Nancy, Kathleen and their husbands were at her house and Derek's younger sister, Andrea, was going to meet them at their house from Hamptons the next day together with her husband and two children.

Though she felt a little nervous with the idea of meeting Derek's family, Meredith liked the sunny weather and mostly the neighborhood where Derek spent his childhood. Their street was long and quiet, bordered by trees on each side of the road. Derek bragged that their house even had a small backyard.

Despite Carolyn's reassurance, Meredith did freak out a little when they arrived home and Meredith saw two little girls jumping up and down behind the front door.

"Kathleen has then under control. It's safe to go in," Nancy laughed when she saw Meredith's face. "Hello, Meredith," she gave Meredith a bear hug as Meredith was holding Morgan in her arms.

"It's nice to meet you, Nancy," Meredith answered.

Nancy just smiled at her, having her attention over Morgan now. "She's adorable. Bad flight?"

"Bad enough to make us not want to fly with the airplane again," Meredith sighed.

Nancy looked questioningly at Derek, a little worried. Her husband David and Kathleen's husband, Colin came outside to help them with the bags. They overheard Meredith and also looked questioningly at Derek.

"What happened?" Colin asked them.

"A little boy," Carolyn chuckled.

"Oh," everyone sighed with relief.

"Let's go inside," Carolyn told them.

Meredith hesitated a little. Looking at the two little girls, Meredith couldn't help but associate them with two wild animals. She shook her head and told herself, 'they're just two little girls.'

Carolyn and David were the first ones that stepped inside. Blocked by the grown-ups and their luggage, the two girls started squirming around, trying to run past them.

"Didn't we talk about this?" Carolyn asked her granddaughters, using a firm tone.

The girls stood still with their hands to back and smiled at her with innocence. 5 more children joined the family; Nancy's oldest, Carrie and Andrew and Kathleen's other tree children, a boy- Anna's twin brother Kevin, and her oldest, Jessica and Erica. Contrary to the two little girls, Morgan's other cousins greeted them shyly, Kevin in particularly.

"Unke Delek," Trisha hung on Derek's leg, grinning up at him. "I wanna see tha baby."

Derek picked his niece into his arms and kissed her both cheeks. Then he turned her to Meredith and pointed to her arms, "The baby is sleeping, so we have to be quiet," he whispered.

"Sneeping?" Anna gasped and she sounded as if she was about to start crying.

Sheepishly she approached Meredith and didn't dare to hang on her leg as her cousin had done with Derek. Despite the scare she had been through when she first saw the girls jumping on the other side of the door, Meredith liked their cuteness. She put her finger to her mouth, as sign to keep the voice down, and knelt in front of Anna to show her the baby.

Anna squealed delightfully and squeezed her fists as if she knew that she wasn't allowed to touch the baby. A finger jerked up and Anna glanced at Meredith, asking for her permission. Meredith smiled and shook her head as no. "You can play with her later, after she wakes up."

As her cousin had a better view over the baby, Trisha started squirming in Derek's arms, wanting down to see the baby better.

"I brought presents," Derek tried to distract their attention from the baby. "Who wants to open their presents first?" he asked them, Trisha and Anna in particularly.

But the two girls had other idea. Their present was the baby. They shook their heads and Trisha kept fussing in Derek's arms until she started whimpering and Derek had to put her down.

"We're sorry we forgot the red carpet," Carolyn joked with Meredith and Derek. "We're not even able to keep the fans away."

"I am disappointed," Derek pretended to pout at the two girls. "You're not happy to see me at all."

He was expecting an answer from them, but the girls' eyes were locked on the sleeping baby. "Ok, then the baby and I are going upstairs and ignore you for the rest of the day."

As the girls were about to protest, Kathleen and Nancy held them back, demanding to behave themselves.

"I will show you your room," Carolyn told them and David helped them with the bags.

Carolyn walked them to Derek's old room and they were surprised to see that his mother had found a crib to install in their room.

"With so many grandchildren, I always have a crib install in the house," Carolyn laughed. "We'll leave you to settle down now."

Left alone, Derek put an arm around Meredith. "Overwhelming?"

Meredith took a deep breath and shook her head. "It smells… in a way."

"What way?" Derek asked, confused.

"Your room. It smells in a way that I can't describe."

"Does it smell bad?"

"No," Meredith hurried to reassure him. She shrugged her shoulders then. "I think it smells like old; but not in a bad way. Anyway, nice room," she complimented as she gave a second look at the room. It didn't have any decoration; no posters, no old toys or balls. Besides the regular furniture, the room looked like a guest room.

"Yeah," Derek chuckled. "It suffered some changes throughout the years."

"Yes, because you had a wife once," Meredith pointed knowingly.

Derek just smiled.

Meredith put Morgan down in the middle of the bed and brought two pillows at her sides. Morgan sighed sleepily and stuck her thumb into her mouth, sucking it slowly.

"She has started to suck her thumb more often while she sleeps," Meredith noticed.

"That's why babies are cute," Derek pointed out.

Derek started unpacking their stuff, starting with Morgan's, while Meredith decided to go and take a shower.

Derek was zipping an empty suitcase when he heard some little voices outside their bedroom door. He smiled as he only imagined the two girls, sitting down and leaning against their door while making a plan how to break in and play with the baby.

He pushed the suitcase under the bed and went to give the girls a little joy. He listened to the door first but it was useless to understand a word from what the Trisha and Anna were saying. He opened the door and, as expected, the girls fell with their backs into the room.

They stood up quickly, smiling mischievously for being caught.

Derek crouched in front of them and took their hands, bringing them into his arms. "If you promise that you will stay quiet and not disturb Baby Morgan, you can come in and sit with her."

The girls had a huge smile on their faces and they nodded their heads, looking willing of doing anything just to go and sit with the baby.

Derek stood up and led them inside. He put them up on the bed and made them a sign to be quiet, remembering them about their deal.

"She's so poety," Trisha smiled at Derek.

"She's so what?" Derek laughed at her language.

"Peety," Anna wanted to be helpful and translate for him.

Anna had more courage and leaned to Morgan, touching softly her cheek with the tip of her finger. She giggled as if she had never experience such touch in her life.

Derek ran his hand through her hair and kissed her on the forehead.

"Do you like my baby?" he asked them.

The girls smiled and answered with firm nods from their heads.

"Can I feed her?" Trisha asked Derek, pleading.

"You can even change her diaper," Derek laughed.

"No," Anna protested and Derek had to shush at her to remember her that she had to keep her voice down. "No," she whimpered quietly again. "I wanna do dat."

Derek tried not to laugh and nodded. "Trisha feeds the baby and Anna changes her diaper."

"Yeah," the girls nodded, a little too loud again, but this time they shushed each other.

Because the girls seemed to give their best behavior, Derek trusted them and went to unpack another suitcase. Now and then he glanced over to the bed to check on them.

But the girls lay each at Morgan's sides and watched her sleeping. Trisha even dared to touch slowly the fist Morgan was sucking. That disturbed Morgan a little, but not enough to wake her up. Then the girls started analyzing her clothes, again, without disturbing her.

That's how Meredith found them when she came out of the bathroom. Derek gave an apologetic look, almost begging her not to get mad. Because the girls actually proved to be very nice and calm, Meredith didn't mind.

She just whispered to Derek, "I hope they washed their hands."

Derek rolled his eyes.

Meredith was in bed with the girls and Morgan, explaining them a few things about her, and Derek was in shower when the door opened slowly and Kathleen sneaked her head inside. As she saw the girls in there, she walked in, propping her hands on her hips and shaking her head with disapproval.

"They've been good," Meredith took their side.

"I won't say anything because I don't want to scare you," Kathleen chuckled. "It's time to help Grandma with the dessert," she told the girls. "And I don't take any 'no' for answer."

Because the girls looked reluctant at their mom and aunt, Meredith told them to go on because Morgan would be up soon and they could play with her then.

That didn't give them too much impulse, but as Kathleen insisted, they had to comply and go with her. When Trisha stood up and jumped off the bed, the mattress shifted and Morgan started fussing, rubbing her eyes.

Kathleen and Meredith noticed that, so Kathleen hurried to take the girls out of the room. Meredith picked Morgan up and, laying her back against the headboard, she cradled Morgan in her arms.

Morgan put her head down on Meredith's chest, her thumb in her mouth, and clutched on Meredith's finger as Meredith tried to caress her. Then Meredith knew Morgan was about to wake up. With her free hand, she slowly started brushing Morgan's hair with her fingers. Morgan sighed soundly. She rubbed her face against her mommy's chest and pulled her head back, slowly opening her eyes and looking at her mommy.

Meredith could swear there was a smile on Morgan's face when she opened her eyes, but Morgan soon showed her regular mood after nap. She started weeping and rubbing her face against Meredith's body. That wasn't a regular thing for Morgan and Meredith didn't know what to think about it. Morgan continued to rub her face against her mommy's chest and also ran her fingers over her face several times.

Derek walked out of the bathroom, alarmed by Morgan's weeping.

"What's happening? What did they do?"

"They didn't do anything. I don't know, Derek. She keeps rubbing her face."

Derek sat down in bed with them and ran his hand over Morgan's tiny back. "Maybe she's trying to scratch her nose."

"Let's go to the window. Maybe the chill air will help her calm down," Meredith suggested and stood up in the same time.

Derek opened the door and let Meredith sit on the windowsill with Morgan. The air was a little too cold for Morgan, so he brought her the blanket.

Curious with the new sight outside her window, Morgan stopped rubbing her face and paid more attention to the quiet street outside. Derek stood there with them and they all watched the evening falling over the city. Somewhere far, a siren was breaking the silence.

"She seems better," Meredith noticed, carefully looking at Morgan. "It doesn't seem to be an allergy. Her nose is not red."

"Maybe she had a bad dream."

Meredith nodded.

"I am going downstairs. Are you coming?" he asked Meredith.

"Let me change her first."

"Ok," Derek gave her a kiss and then Morgan too. "Maybe I find some kids willing to receive our presents," he chuckled.

"I am sure her older cousins would love to see what we brought them."

Derek gathered the bags with the presents and stopped in the doorway, sighing.

"What is it?" Meredith asked him.

"I used to be Anna's favorite not long ago," he sighed again.

Meredith started laughing. "You can't compete with a baby's cuteness."

"I know," he sighed once more and winked at her before he left the room.

Downstairs, Derek had a short talk about work with his sisters and brother-in-laws until he started smelling something familiar; his mother's cooking. He didn't know how he was missing it until now when he was back to his mom's house. Derek picked up Kevin in his arms and told him to go together and see what goodies grandma and the little girls were preparing for them.

As he walked into kitchen, Derek found his mother at the stove and the girls up on the table, throwing strawberries all over a cake.

"Are those two monkeys eating all the fruits from the cake?" Derek asked.

The girls looked up and grinned mischievously at him.

"Delek," Trisha complained giggling.

Kevin tapped him on the shoulder then. "You bought something?"

"If I brought something?" Derek asked him, a little confused with his language. "If I brought any present for you?"

Kevin smiled sheepishly and nodded his head.

"Of course I did, but as everyone was so happy to see Baby Morgan and you ignored me, I got upset and decided not to give you any present," Derek teased him.

Kevin didn't protest, but Derek could tell he was disappointed.

"Why don't you tell him, Kevin?" his grandma asked him.

"Tell me what?"

Kevin smiled, shy, and put his finger into his mouth, giggling as he muttered, "I missed you, Delek."

"Aww," Derek laughed and kissed his cheeks. "Then I will give you your present."

"I missed you too," Trisha stated, struggling to get off the chair. She ran to him and hugged his leg. "I missed you too."

Anna wasn't late to hang on his leg and praise him, "I miss you, unke Delek."

"Oh, so you're still missing me?" Derek laughed at Anna. Then he pretended to be serious and shook his head. "I don't believe you two. You're just saying that to get your presents."

The girls shook and nodded their heads, both a little confused with the answer they were supposed to give. Derek and Carolyn started laughing.

"What do you choose between playing with my baby all weekend or your presents?" Derek asked the girls.

The girls looked at each other, still troubled with the answer they were supposed to give.

"At least they're hesitating and leaning to each of your options," Carolyn pointed out.

"And I must say that I am impressed," Derek smiled reassuringly at them. "Meredith and I will give you the presents after dinner."

"Go and find something else to do, because you turned my kitchen into a mess," Carolyn told them.

Derek put Kevin down and let him go with his sister and cousin. His attention turned to his mother then. "It smells great," he complimented, walking up behind her and hugging her.

Carolyn chuckled and leaned her head to his shoulder, without stopping from mixing in her pot. "We're having stuffed duck. Meredith's favorite."

"That's not Meredith's favorite," Derek answered.

His mother stopped and turned to look at him. "It's not?"

"No. I don't know how you come with this," Derek answered. "But don't worry, because Meredith eats almost anything."

Carolyn was confused. "Then why did I make the impression that Meredith loves the stuffed duck?"

"Because she will, once she eats yours," Derek laughed. "Or maybe because that's your other daughter's favorite food. Do you remember her? The one you haven't seen her since her wedding?"

Carolyn sighed then, remember her youngest of girls. "Sandra said she would come to your wedding. Did you and Meredith choose a date yet?"

"A date, no," he answered. "But we decided to have the wedding next year, around June or July."

"Just then?" his mother looked disappointed.

"Yes. Meredith and I talked about this and we chose to have it next year. Why?"

Carolyn shrugged, turning back to her pot. "I am just worried, Derek."

Derek narrowed his eyes, curious, and leaned against the counter, ready to hear what was on his mom's mind.

Carolyn wiped her heads and turned to her son. "Why don't you get married this summer? Your sister would be more than glad to help you. Meredith has her friends also. There's still time for preparing a wedding."

Derek could not believe his mom was rushing him into a marriage.

Apparently, that was the part his sister Nancy overheard it, as the look on her face was a disapproving one. "What are you doing, mom? He just got over his first divorce. Do you think he needs a second?"

"I know how this sounds," Carolyn tried to justify herself. "I wouldn't tell anyone to hurry and get married, but this time, a baby is involved." She turned to Derek then. "What if you and Meredith don't work out as couple and what if Meredith finds someone else? What will you be to Morgan then?"

"Morgan's father will never come back to them," Derek pointed out, referring at Mark.

"I know," she nodded knowingly. "It's not her father I am talking about. It could be another man, just like you; someone who will get to love Morgan as much as you love her. Do you think she would let you be her father from there on too?"

"I think she will," Nancy answered, visibly irritated with her mother's ideas.

Both, Derek and Carolyn looked at her, surprised with her reaction.

"Can I howld Moldan, auntie?" they heard Anna's plead right behind the door.

They stopped and looked at each other, wondering if Meredith had heard a word from what they were arguing about.

"She's too heavy for you, Anna," Meredith told the girl, opening the door. She stopped in the doorway, hesitating as she saw Derek with his mother and sister.

"Morgan needs her dinner," she told them quietly.

"Sure," Carolyn smiled. "I made chicken soup and roast potatoes for her."

Derek walked up to them, picking Anna in his arms. "Are you still chasing my baby?"

Anna giggled mischievously and shook her head.

"Do you want to feed her now?" Carolyn asked Meredith. "Or she can eat with us. We'll have dinner in a minute."

"I will wait for dinner. She won't want to sit alone," Meredith answered.

"I'll call Kathleen to help you," Nancy told her mom and in the same time she went at Derek's side and took his hand. "I want to talk to you," she told him.

Derek looked at Meredith, checking if Meredith was ok, if she hadn't heard anything from his previous conversation with his mother. But Meredith looked, calm; maybe a little stressed, but that was because Morgan was hungry.

Meredith took Morgan to her uncles and cousins so she could help the others in the kitchen with the dinner. In the meantime, Nancy took Derek outside in the backyard.

They took a seat beside each other on a bench. Nancy tucked the sweater around her, crossing her legs and smiling at her brother.

"What do you think about what mom said?" she asked him.

"I think she has no reason to be worried," he answered. "Meredith grew up without her father. She found him again a while ago, but he wasn't able to come and talk to her. She wants a father for her daughter, but she won't start a search."

"Then I think you shouldn't hurry with the wedding. The adoption will come at some point."

"Nancy? What's going on?"

Nancy looked opposed from Derek, fidgeting her hands on her lap. Derek gently slid his hand over hers and just then her hands stood still. She didn't look back at him and from the way she was breathing, Derek could tell that she was fighting against tears.

"Tell me," he said softly.

"David and I are talking about divorce," she stated quietly.

Derek could not believe his ears. "Why? How did you get here?"

Nancy took a deep breath and smiled wearily at her brother. "I don't know. We met 2 years ago and we fell in love with each other. We got married in a few months, but…" she paused for a brief moment to catch up her breath. "The past year has been… different. We barely talk besides the children. We don't have anything else in common. Many times I have the feeling that I live with a stranger. Sometimes I actually ask myself who is this man? He's not bad," she hurried to add. "He's a great man. Great with the children, but… every day I find something new about him. Things I haven't seen until now."

"Get away from the house, from the children. Go on a vacation just the two of you."

Nancy sighed, shrugging. "I don't know."

"Do you want to end this marriage?" Derek asked her.

"Yes," her answer was prompt. "But we have the children and though he is not their birth father, he doesn't want to leave them."

Derek didn't know what to say to that.

Nancy smiled as response to his silence. "I am trapped in this marriage. I want out, but I can't see the children suffering. Trisha is Daddy's little girl and David loves her more than anything in the world."

All Derek could do was to give his sister a hug. "I hope you'll sort the things out somehow."

Nancy pulled back from his embrace and smiled wearily. "I am also pregnant with his child."

Derek stared at her, dazzled with the amount of information he was receiving regarding his sister's life.

"Don't congratulate me," she told him. "None else knows and none else needs to find out."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that I won't keep this baby. It's better this way. David doesn't need to know."

Derek felt the blood rushing to his brain, boiling. He jumped up from the bench and made a few steps forward, running his hands through his hair. He didn't want to yell at his sister, but he couldn't prevent it. "What do you mean he doesn't need to know?" he snapped, turning back to her. "Are you kidding me? Why? Because you have it in your womb? Does this give you the right to take all the decisions?"

"Derek," Nancy tried to calm him down. She knew she had touched a sensitive spot.

"You hate Addison to death for what she did to me and now you want to do exactly like her?"

"Derek, please keep your voice down."

Derek rubbed his face with frustration. He looked at his sister with his greatest scorn. What he couldn't tell his ex wife, he was about to tell his sister. He tried not to let the insults out though and left further from her in attempt of calming down. Taking deep breaths, slowly the urge of insulting her was fading. "This is why I think Meredith and I will make it. She's nothing like you and Addison," he talked to his sister with calm now. "She made a mistake when she got pregnant and maybe she was justified to abort the baby, but she decided to deal with the consequences of her mistake. Do you know what she wishes the most now? She wishes to have a family for her and her baby and she wants me to be part of their family."

Without any other word, he went back in the house, leaving his sister in a puddle of tears. He could have stayed and comfort her; show her his support, but not long ago, there was none able to comfort him enough when his wife decided to abort their baby.

Back in the house, the spirits were brighter. The children were buzzing around the table, arranging spoons and forks, David was playing with Morgan while Colin was helping the women with the plates.

Meredith saw Derek's face when he came back from the garden. She looked behind him and saw that Nancy was still outside.

"Are you ok?" she asked him so that none would hear her.

Derek just smiled and hugged her. He kissed her on the forehead and laughed. Morgan was done with the playing and she was demanding her dinner, so she grabbed a lock of David's hair and started screaming.

Derek went and took Morgan from her uncle. "You just met him and you're already leaving him bald. Do you think he is going to give you presents when he comes to visit if you behave like this?"

Morgan didn't want to listen. Derek couldn't blame her. He couldn't recall when the last time Morgan had eaten was and he could feel her stomach growling.

"Everyone wash your hands!" Carolyn told the children.

Meredith knew that something might have happened between Derek and Nancy, especially when she saw Nancy coming back inside. She wondered then if it was her the reason for whatever fight had been between Derek and Nancy.

One by one, people started sitting around the table; the children with their parents, Morgan in her highchair between Meredith and Derek. Dinner was probably the only moment when Trisha and Anna didn't ask to play or be near Morgan. They were too hungry too.

At dinner the conversation swirled from Morgan, to children, to work and back to Morgan. After Derek told his family again how he met Meredith, it was David's turn to talk about him and Nancy. Meredith noticed then an exchange of glares between Derek and Nancy.

Morgan enjoyed her first family dinner too. She didn't know why people were laughing, but she was having a blast; especially after her stomach was full.

As dessert, Morgan received a slice of apple pie, which Meredith decided to leave her eat by herself. Her face turned into an apple pie itself. When she missed the mouth again, Morgan had the bad luck of sending the pie in her eyes. That was it took her to create panic between the other grown-ups. Derek reassured his family that Morgan's eyes had tasted a lot of foods by now.

Meredith wanted to take the plate out of Morgan's face, but Morgan protested firmly and slapped her mother.

Meredith looked at Derek and he was looking back at her, surprised with her reaction.

Derek stood up and took Morgan out of her chair. "Ok, we're done with pie if we slap Mommy."

Morgan started crying.

Derek sat down in his chair and put Morgan on his lap. "Try to ignore her," he told his family. "We're trying not to encourage her tantrums."

Anna and Trisha didn't want to listen. That was their baby cousin crying and they couldn't stand to see her upset. Both girls came at Derek's chair and started patting Morgan and talking to her.

Satisfied that someone was giving her attention, Morgan stopped from crying and leaned over Derek's arms to reach to the girls.

The girls started kissing her then as her whole face smelled and tasted like apple pie. Morgan enjoyed the kissing even more.

Carolyn had installed in living room a safe playground for Morgan. Anna and Trisha got in as well, shyly accompanied by Kevin, and all of them supervised by Jessica or Carrie.

"Do you know what I find strange?" Kathleen asked herself while they were all in living room, talking. "I couldn't convince Mark to come to this reunion. What's going on between you two?" she asked Derek. "You don't seem to be talking to each other anymore. Why?"

Discreet looks exchanged between Derek, Meredith and Carolyn.

"We've been very busy," Derek hoped that he would convince them with that.

Kathleen rolled her eyes, proving to be not so easy to convince. "You're hiding something. Meredith," she asked Meredith. "Do you know anything about this?"

"No," Meredith answered shaking her head.

Kathleen turned her attention to her brother again, expecting him to tell more.

"Uncle Derek, Aunt Meredith!" Jessica rushed behind them. "Come!" she urged them, hurrying back to the playground.

Meredith, Derek and the rest of the family were right behind her.


	46. Chapter 46

Everyone stared inside the playground, dumfounded. From the playground, Kevin whimpered to be taken out and the girls were looking puzzled at the grown-ups. Morgan was herself, laughing, half-naked.

"We wanted to change her diaper," Carrie explained, embarrassed. "But we've never done this before." After a short pause, she added quietly, "And we didn't know how a dirty diaper looks like."

Just then they saw Morgan's bag in the playground.

Meredith looked at Derek. She didn't know if she was supposed to be amused or worried. Derek winked at her and started laughing as he didn't want to cause any drama, "You, girls, are very helpful." He bent over the playground and carefully picked Morgan in his arms. Her diaper wasn't that messy, but messy enough to dirt her clothes.

"I was expecting more from you, Carrie. You're 12, not 3-year-old like them," her grandma scolded her.

"I am going to clean her up and dress her," Derek stated.

"I wanna hep!" Anna shouted, already hurrying after Derek. Kathleen caught her in time and gave her a stern look, demanding not to go after Morgan.

Meredith took Morgan's bag and went upstairs to help Derek, letting the children to receive their lecture.

"She's their toy," Meredith giggled as she walked in their room.

Derek was laying Morgan on a blanket just then. "She's a toy to us too," he laughed and shook his head. "But you didn't mind, did you?" he cooed at Morgan. Morgan giggled and tried to stuff her fist into her mouth. "Or you?" he asked Meredith.

"I don't mind, but maybe we should be more careful when the children are around her," Meredith pointed out. "They have all sorts of ideas and Morgan is just a baby."

"I agree with you on that," Derek looked at, nodding reassuringly. "Wet wipes, please!" he held his hand out to Meredith.

Meredith looked through Morgan's bag and took the wet wipes pack outside. "Right away, Dr. Daddy," she laughed. She handed him the open pack.

"Clean diaper!" Derek asked then, using his OR bossing voice and laughing.

"Maybe you should give her a bath," Meredith suggested.

Derek looked up at her and pretended to be scolding, "Since when Dr. Mommy resident orders Dr. Daddy attending?"

"Since Dr. Mommy is her Mommy. You don't argue with Mommy," Meredith smirked.

"Ok," Derek backed out. "Let's not argue with Dr. Mommy," he asked to Morgan while he was stripping the rest of her clothes off.

In the meantime, Meredith went to prepare Morgan's bath. Carolyn had everything that a nursery needed; including a baby bathtub.

"How come she has everything for a baby?" Meredith asked Derek, being impressed, but also surprising, with how well prepared Carolyn was.

"Kathleen stood here with Colin and the kids while they renovated their house and the twins were babies then," Derek explained.

"And she kept everything?"

"She anticipated well," he laughed, tossing Morgan up in the air. Morgan started laughing with delight. Despite the small discomfort she had had earlier that day in the air plane, Morgan could consider herself satisfied with her day.

"Derek?" Meredith asked, hesitating a little.

Derek carefully checked the water's temperature and as he was satisfied with it, he put Morgan in the bathtub. Morgan was staying quiet now, paying attention to what was happening to her. She started giggling and slapping the water when Meredith made small waves.

"What?" he asked her.

"What happened?" She asked, referring at the moment when he went outside and talked to Nancy. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Derek nodded, but kept his look down on Morgan.

"Is everything alright between you and Nancy?" Meredith insisted.

"Everything is fine," Derek answered, a little cranky. He was aware of the tone of his voice, so he looked up and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry."

"So you fought because of me," Meredith concluded.

"We didn't fight because of you."

"So there was a fight," she pointed out.

"Mer, please," he groaned. They heard voices on the hallway and Derek whispered to Meredith, "We'll talk about this later."

Meredith nodded and didn't say more.

Carrie knocked on the bathroom door and sneaked her head inside. "Can we come in?"

"Come in," Meredith smiled.

Trisha and Anna ran past Carrie and were the first ones inside, followed by Carrie and Jessica. Trisha and Anna squealed when they saw what Morgan was doing.

"I have an idea," Meredith said. "Why don't we fill the bathtub and you two can have a bath with Morgan."

Both girls gasped, extremely thrilled with the idea. In the next second they were taking their clothes off.

"Do you think their mothers would mind?" Meredith asked Derek, laughing as she watched the girls' struggle to take the clothes off. As Derek didn't answer, Meredith looked at him and found him staring at her. "What?"

"Who are you?" Derek asked her.

Meredith giggled. "I am Meredith. Nice meeting you."

Derek narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "Meredith I knew wouldn't have let even the wind touch her baby."

"Now you are so exaggerating," she laughed.

Impressed with Meredith's attitude toward Morgan's new friends, Derek agree to fill the bathtub and give the girls a bath.

Out of the three of them, Morgan enjoyed the bath the most, especially when her cousins were blowing soap bubbles into her face or were spraying water with a duck.

Out of all of them, Meredith enjoyed it the most as she saw how much fun and how happy her baby was.

"What's going on here?" Kathleen snapped as she came to check on the girls, minutes later.

"I hope you don't mind," Meredith looked apologetically at her.

Derek looked at his sister and mouthed, 'Please, don't mind.'

Kathleen laughed and nodded. "That's fine, but I hope that you two apologized to Morgan and her parents for what you did," she looked at the girls.

The girls smiled, their best smile, and nodded. Kathleen shook her head with disapproval, knowing they were lying.

Morgan laughed, slapping the water with both hands just then.

"See? She accepted their apologies," Derek chuckled.

"You're always spoiling them and one day you and I are going to have a serious fight because of this." Kathleen warned him, a little serious now. She looked at Meredith then, "Please be careful. If you spoil them, you will wish to see them in college the next day."

Derek gave a knowing glare and she understood that she was about to play therapy with her brother and his girlfriend. She smiled apologetically. "It's weekend and it's a special weekend so I guess we can afford some erratic moments."

"I am glad you agree," Derek chuckled. "Now let's get the girls out of the bathtub."

"No, no," Anna was already protesting.

"Are you girls clean?" Kathleen asked them.

"No," they answered in unison, thinking this way they could spend more time in water with Morgan.

Meredith took Kathleen's side this time. "It's time for Morgan to have her milk and a good night sleep."

"She is not seepy," Trisha protested.

"No," Anna agreed with her.

"Yes she is," Meredith disagreed. "And you know how I know?" the girls looked at her, confused. "I am her mommy and mommies always know what their babies want."

Anna and Trisha sighed at the same time. If all the grown-ups were against them, they knew they had no chance of winning, so they let Kathleen and Derek take them out of the bathtub and dress them.

Morgan told goodnight to her cousins and went to spend the rest of the evening with her Mommy and a bottle of milk. She was snoozing in Meredith's arms when Derek came back from his nieces' room.

Meredith lay down onto her back as Morgan let her last yawn out she put her onto her chest and gently started caressing her back. Derek lay with them and couldn't be other way but amazed of how magic the moment felt. They stood like that, in silence, their eyes on Morgan only, until Morgan was sleeping soundly.

"Derek?" Meredith asked quietly and looked at him. "Let's go get married to city hall. We can do it here in New York or when we go back to Seattle."

Derek rolled onto his side to be able to look better at her. She was sounding so convincing and willing that for a moment he actually believed her. Then he remembered the conversation he had had with him mother earlier. "You heard us," he understood.

"I…" she hesitated a little. "We can get married whenever you want. Just let me know so that I can start looking for a dress."

"Meredith," Derek sighed. "We're not changing our plans. I am content with what we decided."

"I know, but I gave a better thought and… Morgan will still be little and she won't remember the wedding. Probably she wouldn't remember it even if she is 5 when we get married."

"Meredith," Derek chuckled at her ramble. "Let's not hurry. I have no doubt that I want to marry you, but I want to have this wedding by the book. It won't be a big wedding, but I want everything to be perfect. The decorations, the menu, your dress, Morgan's dress. Everything. And for this we don't have to hurry."

Derek noticed that Meredith stopped paying attention to him. Something was on her mind. "What is it?"

Meredith stood thoughtful a moment longer and then smiled at Derek. "I just got an idea. What if we have the wedding on Orcas Island?"

"That's a great idea," Derek looked thrilled with the suggestion. "That can be a perfect place for a wedding. Yes," Derek nodded, now started talking to himself. "I will call when we get back to Seattle and see what we have to do."

"Let's do it. Maybe we need make an early reservation,"

"Are we changing the date?" Derek asked.

"We don't have a date," Meredith pointed out. "We only talked about the period, but we didn't choose a date. I think we should take the first date they have available for us."

"What if it's in two months?"

"You pay extra and they hurry with the preparation. Now if you care so much about the money," she shrugged.

Derek smiled, rolling her eyes. "After the house is finished, I am going to pass it on Morgan's name," he stated.

Meredith looked at him and tried to look amused.

"I am serious." Derek stated when he saw she didn't believe him.

"No," Meredith didn't seem to agree with him. "That's too much. I wouldn't do it either. She will get a job and eventually we will help her buy a house, but we won't offer her one. She needs to learn how to earn her living. I am telling you by now, Derek; you can adopt her and you can share opinions about what school and colleges she will attend, but you can't spoil her with money and expensive gifts. I don't know what you think about this, but I want her to get a part time job while she's in college. We will help her with the fees and the housing, but if she wants money to spend on her free time then she has to work for them. That's what I did."

Meredith looked at him, ready to argue if he would disagree; but Derek understood at her point and had to agree. "You're already an excellent mother."

"You're just saying that because you don't want me to lecture you about your idea with passing the house on Morgan's name. Morgan is Ellis' Grey granddaughter and I am sure that her grandma won't let her homeless."

"I agree with you. I had a job too during Med School. I worked as waiter," he smirked at her.

Meredith giggled, rolling her eyes. "That's why you're going to serve us dinner from now on."

"If you tip me well," he smiled suggestively.

"If your service is irreproachable," Meredith replied seductively.

"Then I am not worried," he chuckled.

Meredith laughed, leaning to him for a kiss. He cupped her cheek and their lips brushed against each other.

"What happened with Nancy?" Meredith asked him.

Derek's mood changed immediately. He let out a groan and rolled onto his back. "She and David want to divorce. She's pregnant and she doesn't want to tell David because she doesn't want to keep it. I don't understand her, Meredith." He looked at Meredith as she didn't say anything at that.

Meredith was staring at him, dumbfounded. "I can't believe they want to divorce."

"I know. They look like a perfect family. Maybe I can understand the divorce because I don't know details from their intimacy, but she's pregnant with his baby. He has the right to know and decide if she can abort it or not."

Meredith remembered Derek's own drama from his first marriage. Then she understood his frustration and the cold attitude between him and Nancy.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Meredith could not believe she had just asked that, but deep down she felt like she could help Derek and Nancy.

"Would you do that?" he smiled, same as Meredith, not believing what he heard was real.

"I could try," Meredith answered, a little hesitant now.

"Just a brief talk."

"I don't think I could manage a long one anyway," she giggled.

Derek's face lit up with a huge smile. He stood up in his sit, cupped Meredith's face with both hands and pressed a strong kiss against her lips.

"What was this for?" Meredith blushed.

Derek looked into her eyes and there was only love reflecting in them. "That's why I love you. You found the right decision even for the worst mistakes."

"That's not really true," she answered.

"I got to know you very well, though we've known each other for a short time. Meredith, I do know you."

Meredith smiled with a shade of sadness in her smile. "I hope you do."

"What's wrong?" he asked, reading her sadness.

"I hope you do, because I need you, Derek. I need you by all meanings."

Derek scooted closer and put his head on her shoulder, gently rubbing her arm. "I need you by all meanings too."

They didn't need to set a date for their wedding to reassure each other of their families regarding their future as couple. They had other reassurances and Morgan, who slept with them that night.


	47. Chapter 47

Derek was the first one that woke up the next morning. The first thing he could distinguish with his blurry eyes was the ceiling of his old room. He sighed with content as he realized how far he had come with his life and how satisfied he was with the thought of having the love of his life and their baby next to him in bed.

Derek slowly rolled onto his side to be able to watch Meredith and Morgan sleeping. Meredith, same as him, was facing Morgan, sleeping peacefully with her hands tucked underneath her pillow. Morgan was onto her back, sleeping completely motionless, only her tiny chest was rising periodically along with her calm breathing. Derek drew the quilt upper, covering both Meredith and Morgan.

Meredith seemed to have had a light sleep as she slowly opened her eyes when she felt the quilt.

"Hi," Derek whispered, smiling. "Sorry."

Meredith smiled and mouthed sleepily, "That's ok."

Morgan started wriggling her fist and feet just then.

"You're a neurosurgeon," Meredith said quietly. "Do you think she's dreaming?"

Derek shrugged. "She must be living some sort of a dream right now."

Meredith watched Morgan's hands and legs movement and giggled. "She looks like she's running and she can't even walk yet."

Derek gently ran his palm over Morgan's forehead and, like magic, Morgan calmed down and continued her sleep motionless.

Meredith and Derek stayed quiet, just watching her. Both of them loved to watch Morgan's sleep; her sleep always passed to them its peace.

As they stayed just a little bent over her and watched her, Morgan's eyes suddenly snapped wide open, just like in a scary movie, making both of them gasp.

While her parents looked at each other, too stunned and too scared to say anything, Morgan started stretching her body and squirm.

It took them a moment to come out of the shocking awaking Morgan showed them, but then they both started laughing.

"Who taught you that?" Derek asked Morgan as he stood up, leaning against the headboard, and picked the baby into his arms.

Morgan rubbed her eyes and giggled, resting her head against his chest and sucking her thumb.

"She was dreaming," Meredith pointed out.

"It looks like it," Derek chuckled and gently kissed the top of Morgan's head. "I bet Cristina taught her that. Only she could do such scary things."

"Now you're mean," Meredith giggled.

Derek turned Morgan around so that she could face her mommy too and to have a moment together. As they checked the time, they saw it was a little passed 8 and that meant that soon the whole house would be up and Trisha and Anna would be claiming the right to play with Morgan.

"We're still going to the beach?" Meredith asked Derek.

"Of course. Morgan has to see it for the first time. Besides, her cousins are anxious to build her palaces of sand," Derek laughed.

"If she enjoys it, we'll have to take her to the beach more often."

"Absolutely," Derek agreed. "Each time we have a moment free. She has to meet Orcas Island. Maybe she won't agree to have it as location for our wedding."

"Why? How old do you want her to be in our wedding day?" Meredith frowned.

Derek grinned with satisfaction. "She doesn't have to be that old. I just wanted to see you frowning."

Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling. "I can wait, you know," she teased him.

"You can't wait," he contradicted her knowingly. "Because you want everyone to stop asking you why we aren't getting married tomorrow."

Meredith just smiled and didn't reply to that, proving Derek he was right. "We can wait," he wanted to reassure her.

"I know," she answered. "We can. Only if you want to."

"I don't want to. You seem to want to."

"No, I don't," Meredith was ready to argue.

"Then we're both ok with having the wedding soon," Derek said, waiting for an answer.

"The first date we find available on Orcas Island," Meredith answered.

Derek was still impressed with Meredith's agreement of having the wedding as soon as possible. How far the first available date could be? He asked himself, also answering that it couldn't be longer than 2 or 3 months.

"We have a short time for preparations," he said.

Meredith shrugged. "As I said last night, we can hire someone. I am not good at planning weddings and I am not sure that your sisters have time for it. At least not after the recent events you told me about."

Derek sighed as he remembered what Nancy had told him. He was trying to understand her, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't. He still wanted to her though. He looked at Meredith and she could tell from his restrained smile, that he wanted to tell her or ask her something.

"Just tell me," she encouraged him.

"Talk to Nancy," Derek said, almost pleading. "Maybe you can convince her to change her mind."

Meredith was shaking her head already. "It's not our business, Derek."

"Meredith," he pled.

Meredith sighed and shook her head. "This kind of decision belongs to them. We shouldn't tell our opinions."

"That's right," Derek agreed. "This decision belongs to them. That's why we have to convince her to at least talk to David about it. I am not asking you to be their counselor. Just give her the right advice."

"Don't you think this will offend her? I mean, I am not the right person to give advices about relationships."

"Yes, you are," Derek disagreed. "And she won't be offended, because you won't offend her. You will just talk to her. Please, Meredith."

Meredith looked away, hesitating. "Why don't you talk to your sisters? Or with your mother?"

"I don't want to upset mom and the others would slip it to her," Derek answered.

Meredith couldn't say no to Derek, especially when he was asking for her help. He had done so much for her and she had to help him back, no matter what he was asking.

The doorknob started moving and Anna slipped inside the room, smiling charmingly at Meredith and Derek. "We go to beach," she giggled.

Her mom, Kathleen walked in behind her, shaking her head. "She doesn't know other rooms," she excused to them.

"That's ok," Derek chuckled. "We're all excited about going to the beach."

"It's going to be just us, because Sarah and James have chickenpox, so our sister stays home today," Kathleen told him.

"That's ok. They still have time to meet Meredith and Morgan," Derek answered and looked at Meredith to see if she was ok with that. Meredith was more than ok with it as Kathleen and Nancy's children were enough for Morgan for the moment.

Everyone started getting off the bed and get ready for the ride to Hamptons, needing to have breakfast and start packing as they were going to leave from Hampton to home.

Before they left, Derek looked for a couple of inns from Orcas Island that said they organize weddings and took their phone numbers.

"Where's Derek?" Carolyn asked as he was the only one that hadn't come out of the house yet.

"He's still talking to the phone," David answered.

Meredith had just buckled Morgan in the van when Carolyn came to her. "Didn't you demand him to stay away from work while he's on vacation? You have to be very firm and don't let anything ruin your vacations."

Meredith smiled apologetically. She had no idea what Derek was doing there. "Maybe he remembered something urgent. I am going after him. Can you keep an eye on Morgan? Anna insists to hold Morgan during the ride."

Carolyn chuckled. "Don't worry. Just bring him out because it's getting late."

Meredith hurried back into the house and found Derek into the office. He had just hung up the phone and he was writing something down on a paper when Meredith walked in.

"I am ready," he smiled and walked up to her, bringing her the paper. "The wedding season is closed from mid September to May. This season is all booked up."

Confused with what Derek was talking about, Meredith read the Orcas Island name on the paper and guessed what he had done. "They have no place available for this year?"

"No and I booked us for 5th of May. I hope you don't mind."

Meredith stopped, looking at him with a frown. "What's on the 5th of May? Our wedding?"

"Yes, but if you don't agree with it, we can switch it. We just have to hurry and choose another date while we can. I made reservation on the 5th just to make sure that we'll be able to get married next year."

"Derek," Meredith sighed.

"What is it? I told you we can still choose another date."

"We don't have to wait until then," Meredith said.

Derek couldn't help but groan. "Let's clear this up now. I think 5th of May is the right date. What do you think?"

Meredith looked at him for a moment and answered, smiling, "It's perfect."

"Good," Derek smiled too and put his arm around her waist. "If it rains, they can assure us an indoor wedding also. I told that woman we would call her in a few days to meet with her and pay the first debit."

"Ok," Meredith nodded.

"Ok. So we're not going to say that we're hurrying or we're delaying the wedding."

"We're not," she smiled.

"And we won't care what the others say either."

"We won't," Meredith giggled.

"Good. Then let's enjoy the fine weather on the beach."

-----

When they finally arrived at the Shepherd's summer house in Hamptons, the sun was already up on the sky and though it was the beginning of April only, the weather was very warm, good enough for the beach, though you couldn't get into the water.

The men got off the cars first and started unloading their things while the women and the children hurried outside to the fine weather. Kathleen and Nancy asked their children not to run to the beach and go straight inside as they were going to go to the beach together.

Meredith had other plans for her daughter. She took Morgan out of her car seat and put her hat on the head so the wind wouldn't cause her problems.

"We're going to see the beach," she told Derek.

Derek looked disappointed, "Without me?"

"You can join us as soon as you get all the things inside," Meredith answered, unwilling of waiting for Derek. She was anxious for Morgan's first meeting with the beach and the ocean.

Derek knew it was silly of him to be jealous, so he smiled and nodded, letting them go. "I will be with you in a minute."

"We'll be waiting for you," Meredith giggled.

Derek gave Morgan a kiss and hurried to take the rest of the suitcases back into the house.

From the road Meredith saw how close to the beach the houses were, so she was on the beach in less than a minute. It wasn't summer yet, but there were still people gathered on the beach; some of them walking on the shore and others playing with the kids in the sand.

The sound and the sight of the ocean and the seagulls were breath-taking and enchanting. Meredith closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the warm rays of the sun against her face. She opened them only when Morgan's warm hand slapped her.

Looking at Morgan, Meredith giggled. Morgan was slapping Meredith to make her pay attention while she had her eyes fixed over the water. Morgan was charmed by the view too.

"This is the beach, Morgan," Meredith told her and Morgan glanced at her mother. "And that's the ocean," she said, pointing to the bright blue water.

Morgan held her hand out to the water, making a sound as if she wanted to say something but she didn't have the right words. Meredith took her shoes off and was surprised how warm the sand was also.

"Let's wait for Daddy before we go to the water. We don't want him to start crying of jealousy," Meredith giggled at Morgan. She looked for a rock and took a seat on it, placing Morgan onto her lap.

With a finger into her mouth, Morgan was looking carefully around her; at the water, at the sky, at the beach and at the children that seemed to have so much fun playing in the sand.

"What do you think of your cousins, Morgan? Do you like them?" Meredith started talking to Morgan. "They are nice and apparently they have problems too, so they are no scarily happy. They are normal."

Morgan was fussing in Meredith's arms as she wanted to see everything around her. She couldn't get enough of watching the water and the blinding sky. Morgan gasped and watched with wide eyes when a seagull landed on the shore, not far from their rock. Slowly she lifted her hand and pointed to it. If she could talk, she couldn't have found her words anyway. She squealed and slapped her hands, delighted with the sight of the seagull. But her thrill scared the seagull and it flew away. Morgan tried to follow it on the sky, but the sky was too bright for her eyes, so she looked down and started rubbing her eyes.

Meredith started laughing at how cute she was.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one that watched Morgan and found her cute. Meredith saw Derek standing not far from them, recording the scene with the seagull on a camera.

Meredith turned Morgan around and helped her wave at Derek. Morgan squealed again when she saw him, so Derek came to them and handed Meredith the camera. "It's your time to record now," he said, taking Morgan into his arms. "We're going to meet the water," he cooed at Morgan.

"Don't get her into the water, Derek," Meredith scolded.

Derek rolled her eyes at her silliness. How could she even think that? "Just make sure you choose a good angle." Derek kicked off his shoes and headed to the water.

Meredith stood up from the rock and shivered as the wind blew past her; she felt like it was still early spring, now that she didn't have Morgan's warmth into her arms. She tucked the jacket around her and holding the camera, headed to the shore, following Derek and Morgan.

Morgan was in complete awe as Derek made the first steps into the cold water. He crouched with her in his arms so she could watch the water closer. Her amazement was even bigger as she watched small waves breaking against Derek's feet. Derek put his fingers into the water and touched Morgan's cheek. Scared, not understanding what was going on, Morgan pulled back whimpering. Then Derek started splashing the water lightly, with thin drop against Morgan's face. That she found entertaining and started giggling. Derek kept playing with her, making sure she didn't get her clothes wet, but soon Morgan was bored. She started paying attention to any other thing but the water. She found Derek's raveled hair and stuck her fingers into it, grabbing handful locks of it.

"That's it?" Derek asked her, a little disappointed.

"Just give her a little more time to start walking. Then I am sure we won't be able to stop her from running and gawking," Meredith comforted him with a giggle. As she said that, Meredith realized a thing. "This summer she will be on her feet. If we go to the beach, she will be able to run and feel the sand."

Derek smiled at Morgan and adjusted the hat over her ears. "How fast they grow," he sighed.

"Tell me about it," Meredith joined his disappointment with a sigh also. "Derek? We have to make sure that she spends unforgettable vacations each year." That was her request to him, trying to make sure that neither of them would be too busy to give Morgan a vacation.

"Morgan," Derek started talking to Morgan. "We promise. We'll take you on vacation wherever you want."

"Disneyland could be fun," Meredith suggested, giggling.

"Absolutely!" Derek agreed.

"Have you been to Disneyland?" Meredith asked him.

Derek looked at her as if that was a silly question. "Many times."

"Is it as great as people say?"

Derek looked at her, suspicious. "You've never been to Disneyland?"

Meredith felt a little uncomfortable with the way he put the question and it made her remember the school time when her friends were talking about their vacations to Disneyland and Meredith had to pretend like she knew what they were talking about.

"Mom found stupid to go and pay to see some cartoon characters," Meredith answered quietly. "When I grew up, I was too old for it."

"Nonsense!" Derek exclaimed with a frown. "The last time I was there was two years ago. I have to take you there too. Before anything else, you have to go and see Disneyland."

"Ok, ok," Meredith giggled. "Just don't make fun of me."

"I won't," he smiled.

"Or feel pity for me,"

Derek smiled apologetically. "I have to feel a little pity for you."

"No pity," Meredith argued, embarrassed.

"Fine," Derek chuckled. As Morgan started not to like the position she was sitting on anymore and the sight either, she started whimpering.

Derek stood up and walked back on the beach. In that moment they saw the family coming, bringing lounge chairs and Carolyn bringing a stroller for Morgan.

Morgan sat in her stroller and watched with excitement her cousins' play in the sand, closely supervised by the grown-ups, especially after Anna tried to feed Morgan with sand cake. While they were gathered around the children, Derek saw Nancy walking alone on the shore. That could have been a good moment to have someone talking to her. He looked at Meredith and made her a discreet sign to look at the shore. Meredith turned and saw Nancy. She looked back at Derek, worried, unwilling of talking to her about such personal things, but as Derek gave her a pleading smile, she couldn't say no. She stood up, shook the sand off her clothes and went after Nancy. She had no idea what to say to her, but she had to try for Derek.


	48. Chapter 48

When Nancy glanced back at her family and saw Meredith coming to her, she stopped for a moment, allowing Meredith to catch up with her.

"He doesn't want you to have her for yourself, does he?" she chuckled.

Meredith asked, confused, "What?" Nancy looked at Derek and Morgan.

"He does that. He loves children." His sister admitted.

"He does," Meredith smiled as she and Nancy watched Derek playing with Morgan on the beach.

Nancy shook out of her thoughts and started walking again, closely followed by Meredith.

"David is great with children too," Meredith stated.

"He is," Nancy smiled.

Meredith watched her feet as they walked on the shore, now and then the water washing them. She knew she had to tell Nancy something, but she had no idea how to. What was she to say to convince Nancy not to make an abortion and eventually not to divorce from David also? Cristina left Preston at the altar because of her small talk. She sighed heavily and apparently loud too as Nancy heard her and looked at her.

"You're not doing great with words," Nancy noticed.

"I am not," Meredith giggled, embarrassed.

"You're a doctor. You should have some communication skills."

"I do have. I just don't do well when I have to talk about personal stuff," Meredith confessed.

Nancy stopped and looked at her, curious. "Do you want to have a heart-to-heart talk with me?" she smiled, kind of pleased with the idea.

"Kind of," Meredith smiled sheepishly.

"Go on," Nancy encouraged her and slowly they started walking again.

But Meredith still didn't seem to have the courage to do it.

"Is everything alright between you and Derek?" Nancy asked her, a little worried now.

"Yes. Everything is great between me and Derek. It's not about us," Meredith started rambling. "We talked last night and chose a date for our wedding. On the 5th of May, on the Orcas Island, nearby Seattle."

Nancy just nodded, listening patiently to her. Something else had her thoughts occupied and Meredith easily guessed what about. She decided to tell her more about the wedding, hoping that she would find a way to open up the subject about her, David and the baby.

"Do you have the guest list ready?" Nancy asked her.

"I think so."

Nancy stopped briefly as she seemed to have just remembered something. "What's going on with Mark? He's going to be Derek's best man again, right?"

Meredith froze, smiling foolishly at Nancy. In that moment she wished she would have started the conversation about Nancy's personal issues and not about her wedding. "I am not sure," Meredith lied and Nancy easily read her.

"I don't understand what is going on," she shook her head, confused. "I barely see Mark and when I see him, he doesn't ask or mention Derek at all. He has become very strange lately."

"Could he be gay?" Meredith asked, but she didn't know how that question could pop out of her mouth without thinking.

Nancy started laughing. "No way."

Meredith decided to continue with her fictive presumption. "He's this way since Derek moved to Seattle, right? Why would he refuse to talk about Derek if he isn't suffering from love? Maybe he's good at hiding his real sexual preferences."

Nancy was listening carefully to Meredith's aberration and for a moment she looked like she believed what Meredith was saying. "No." she said then. "He wasn't like this when Derek moved to Seattle. He's been acting this strange for a few months only. Besides, Derek is acting weird when it comes about Mark too and I don't think he is gay. I don't think you think he's gay either."

"It was just a thought," Meredith excused herself.

"Maybe you could talk to Derek about Mark and see what's going on. They've known each other since they were kids and they always were like brothers. A relationship like this lasts forever. That's why we all think that something bad happened. Maybe you could talk to him and we could find a solution together. It has to be a solution to bring them back together."

For a moment, when Nancy mentioned the close relationship between Derek and Mark, Meredith felt like she needed to cry. Once more she felt guilty. She felt guilty as if she had killed someone.

"I will try," Meredith muttered, now looking away from Nancy, unable to look at her. Then she had an idea. What if she would tell Nancy everything about Morgan and Mark? They were going to have a heart-to-heart talk anyway. But that thought lasted a moment only, because Meredith rejected it.

"Look," Nancy pointed towards a house on the beach. "That was Derek's house. Addison got it after the divorce. And that," she pointed to the next house. "That's Mark's house." She started giggling then as if she was reliving a memory. "Mark did his will a few years ago and Derek dared him to leave this house to his first born. Mark is very careful with protection, so I am curious to see if this house will belong to none."

Meredith just smiled. Apparently, Morgan owned a house already; not legally as Mark gave up on his parental rights and as Derek was going to become her legal father. She still could be considered Mark's first born.

As she looked at the two houses, Meredith noticed something at Addison's house. "Is the door opened?" she asked Nancy.

Nancy stopped right when they were passing in front of it. "Maybe the maid is there," she answered, confused. "We should walk back," she suggested.

Indeed, as she looked back, Meredith could no longer see the place where Derek and the others were. They started walking back, keeping the wet line of the shore. The water didn't feel cold anymore. It was quite pleasing now.

"You still want to tell me something," Nancy said.

"What?"

"You look like you still have something to say to me, but you don't have the courage," Nancy answered.

"Derek asked me to," Meredith muttered.

"Asked you what?" Nancy asked, confused. "To talk to me?" Meredith nodded. Then she understood. She sighed, shaking her head.

"It's not my business. I don't know you. I know nothing about your life," Meredith said. "You have to think very well before you take a decision."

"That's what I am doing," Nancy replied, with a tint of exasperation and fatigue in her voice.

"You don't want to regret this later," Meredith pointed out. "It might be difficult regret to live with. I wasn't sure that I wanted to keep the baby when I found out I was pregnant, but now I know I would have regret it. Morgan means everything to me now. My situation was even worse than yours, because Morgan's father asked me many times to make an abortion and he was very specific that he wouldn't give the baby its name. David will still be there for the baby and for his other children."

"Derek told me a few things about your father too," Nancy said quietly and looked like she understood her point of view and she agreed with her. "It's not just the baby. I don't think I want to lose him either, but… I am tired. I don't know what I think or want anymore."

"That's exactly why you shouldn't make a decision right now. Take a vacation. Go on a vacation with him; without the kids."

Nancy considered Meredith's suggestion and it seemed to be appealing. "I think I will talk to him about this."

"Do it and maybe while you're on vacation, you will tell him the news. I am not the one to give this kind of advices though," Meredith still felt like she had to excuse herself in case that thinks wouldn't work out between Nancy and David.

Nancy smiled. "Were you in love with him?"

Meredith knew what Nancy was talking about. "No. Just physically attracted."

"I get that," Nancy chuckled. "Derek also told me an interesting thing. He was Morgan's legal father for about 24 hours."

Meredith laughed as she remembered the night Morgan was born. "The nurse from the ambulance thought he was the father and I didn't see her bracelet until the next morning. If I knew that things would go this way between is, I would have let him pass as her father."

"Adoption is just a formality," Nancy reassured her.

"I know, but it seems to be very important to your mother."

"You heard that, huh? She's worried. Derek suffered a lot when he found out about Addison's abortion and the divorce wasn't easy on him either. He had a very rough year before he met you."

"I still don't think we would have had a chance a couple if it wasn't Morgan," Meredith admitted.

"Maybe. You're doing great as couple, not just as parents."

Meredith answered with a grateful smile. They kept walking and the topic moved to the wedding. As Derek had warned her, Nancy wanted to assist or at least come with some suggestions. Some of her ideas sounded interesting to Meredith and she was willing to listen more, but she stopped suddenly.

"What is it?" Nancy asked her.

Meredith looked like she was trying to listening to something. "A baby is crying."

Nancy looked around and couldn't see any baby. "It can't be Morgan."

Meredith gave her a knowing look, saying, "You don't know Morgan."

In the next second they were running to the spot where they had left the others.

Meredith was shocked with the scene before her eyes when she and Nancy got closer to the rest of the family. It seemed that Derek had put Morgan on a blanket and she was now crawling to the edge of it, crying.

"She's walking," Meredith muttered, looking at Nancy in disbelief.

Nancy smiled knowingly. "It won't take her long to get there."

By the time they got to the others, Derek had picked Morgan up into his arms and he was pacing around with her.

"Did you see that?" Derek asked Meredith, grinning.

"I did," Meredith laughed, for a moment ignoring the fact that Morgan was crying. She walked up to them and gently caressed Morgan's back. "Why is she crying?" she asked Derek.

"I don't know, but watch this," he said and put Morgan back down on the blanket. He even helped her, laying her onto her stomach, and Morgan was soon up and crawling again to the edge of the blanket, this time towards the shore. "She has speed. She looks like she's running."

Morgan sat on her bum and started crying even louder, from the top of her lungs. Then Meredith shook her head, disapproving Derek's attitude. "She's not your monkey, Derek," she scolded him and picked Morgan up. "Why is she crying?" she asked him again, this time the others also.

"I don't know. She started suddenly."

"Do you think she's hungry? But it's not her lunch time," Meredith wondered.

"She's not," Kathleen showed her the milk bottle still full.

"Then what is it?" Meredith asked, exasperated. "I thought I knew by now what her crying means, but sometimes she's just too much."

"I know," Derek comforted her.

"Why aren't you helping me here?" Meredith snapped at him then and Derek took a step back, taking off guard. "You should try figuring out what is wrong with her too. You wanted this job!"

"Meredith," Derek wanted to retort, but a quick glance from his mom told him that it wasn't cautious to do.

Meredith turned her back on him and started bouncing Morgan, hoping that the light movement would help her. Morgan had stopped from the deafening crying when Meredith picked her off the blanket, but she was still weeping in her arms. Meredith let out a sigh and tried to understand what could be happening to Morgan. She wasn't hungry, her diaper wasn't dirty because she didn't become this restless when she's dirty and she wasn't cold either because she had enough clothes on her. Meredith also checked on her face to see if there wasn't sand on it, but Derek took care of keeping her face clean.

Then, as she briefly glanced around her, something caught Meredith's attention. At the shore was an old man throwing a stick to his dog and the dog was hurrying to bring it back quickly. That gave Meredith an idea and without any word to the others she walked to that man.

"Meredith?" Derek called after her, questioning.

Carolyn made him a sign to leave her alone as she probably knew what she was doing.

"Excuse me," Meredith approached to the man.

The man smiled as he first saw Morgan. "What's wrong with her?" he asked kindly and walked up to them.

"I know this might sound weird, but can we play with your dog a little?" Meredith asked him just when the dog saw the strangers coming to its masters and it hurried to check them.

"Sure," the man agreed. "She's very nice and she loves children."

Meredith first patted the dog, making sure she was nice indeed. When Morgan saw what her Mommy was doing, her crying became a weep and this proved to Meredith that she might have been right. Meredith crouched down at the dog's level and let it smell Morgan.

Morgan stuffed her finger into her mouth and watched with tearing eyes the big dog that had its nose against her tummy. It didn't look like Cujo at all, but Morgan liked this dog too. Shyly she held her hand out and let the dog smell it.

There was no interaction between the dog and Morgan as Morgan seemed to know that it wasn't her dog. She had stopped from crying though. Maybe being away from her chatty cousins was calming her down also.

"Do you think she would mind if I hold her?" the man asked her.

Meredith wasn't sure about that; the man seemed like a really nice person, but Morgan had just calmed down. As the man bent to Morgan and cooed at her, Meredith saw her staring at him. That could be a sign that she might like him. She gave Morgan to the man and Morgan let herself passed without any whine. She put her hands onto the man's face and kept watching him. The man played with her hands and kissed them and Morgan let him do it; but she was soon bored with his attention and she leaned to be passed back to her mother.

In the meantime, Derek decided to come and see what was going on.

"You must be the proud Daddy," the man chuckled.

Derek smiled smugly. "I am."

"I saw you playing with her earlier," the man added.

"I am taking advantage of each free moment," Derek answered. Then he looked at Meredith and Morgan, "Is she better now?"

"She is. I think she's getting tired a little," she answered.

"Let me take her for a walk," Derek suggested, sliding his hands around Morgan and picking her up from her mother.

"Enjoy your vacation," the man wished them kindly and waved at Morgan before he started walking in the opposite direction, closely followed by his dog.

"Is everything ok?" Kathleen asked them when Derek and Meredith brought Morgan back to the family.

Morgan had her thumb into her mouth and her head down on Derek's shoulder, looking away from the others.

"She's having one her mood swings," he chuckled.

"I should go back to the house," Carolyn said. "We have to do some groceries and prepare lunch. David, are you coming with me."

"Sure," David agreed willingly.

"I am coming too," Colin said. "I need to check the plumb in the bathroom."

And so, one by one left from the beach, leaving Meredith and Derek alone with Morgan, Trisha, Anna and Kevin. While Derek took Morgan for a walk, Meredith stayed and played with the kids in the sand. She could not believe how much fun she was having. She couldn't remember when was the last time she played this childishly. It didn't even matter anymore that she was too old for playing the sand.

Time was passing by and lunch time was getting closer. Between brothers a little fight was building and that was the moment when Meredith cut in and announced that it was time to go home.

"Now I want you to clean your toys," she told the kids. "Put them back into their bags and don't leave anything here." In the meantime, she picked their blanket and went to aside to shake the sand off it. "Anna!" Meredith called after the little girl when she saw her running to the water. Anna stopped and looked back at her aunt. "What did we tell you? You're not allowed in the water."

"But…" Anna wanted to reply, showing her toys.

"But you will wash them at home in the bathroom. Now get back here and put the toys into the bag," Meredith asked her.

Anna was trying her aunt and stayed still on the shore.

From distance, Derek was watching the scene with interest.

"Anna," Meredith said with calm, looking firmly at the girl.

Anna knew she wouldn't win this, so she sighed and ran back to her cousin and brother and did as she had been asked.

Meredith gathered the blanket and stuffed it into a bigger bag. Then she put it in Morgan's stroller together with the kids' toys.

Kevin approached her slowly and smiled sweetly. He was asking to be picked up. Meredith had a special sympathy for the little boy the first moment she met him. She picked him up, placing him on her hip and told Derek while she was watching the girls, "You take the stroller. Anna, give me your hand and Trisha, hold on Anna's hand."

The girls complied right away and they were ready to go back to the house just now. As they walked, Meredith saw the way Derek was smiling at her.

"What?" she asked him, amused with his smile.

"You're good at this," he smirked.

Meredith just rolled her eyes, smiling.

Morgan wasn't very calm during the lunch either, so as soon as she was done eating, Meredith took her upstairs into their room. Derek joined them soon as the rest of the family was down for a nap. He found Meredith in bed, rocking Morgan in her arms. Morgan was sucking her thumb, snoozing.

Derek walked quietly to their bed and crawled in it, gently running his hand over Morgan's head. She opened her eyes at his touch and wriggled her legs as she looked at him. Then her eyes closed again and she soon drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Meredith let Derek put her into her crib.

"I know you want more children," she said quietly while Derek was tucking Morgan in.

Derek looked at her. He gave one last look at Morgan to make sure that she was sleeping in comfort and then returned in bed to Meredith. "Of course I want more children. You want more children too." He said. "You want them because you'd like to see how it is to grow up with siblings. I am telling you; it's awesome," he stated and kissed her with excitement.

"Derek," Meredith wanted to disagree.

"It's not the right time now. I know. You're only a second year resident and you already had to deal with a pregnancy throughout your first year. We will wait. A few years." He didn't want her to believe that he could ever stop loving Morgan if he and Meredith had their own children.

Meredith got what he was saying and smiled. "But not too many, Derek. I don't think I could deal with so many."

"Just a few," Derek chuckled and cupped her cheek, kissing her.

Meredith lay in bed and Derek joined her, staying right beside her, still covering her with his body. His hand caressed her cheek and cupped her shoulder, sliding lower to her body.

"Can't we do it after a short nap?" Meredith pled.

Derek didn't like that very much as he knew what a full house meant, but he also saw how tired Meredith was and how she hardly could hold her eyes opened. He needed a little sleep as well, so he just lay beside her and pulled her into his arms, spooning her. All they needed was a little nap to re-charge their batteries.

-----

**N/A** I don't know what's happening, but it seems that i've lost my inspiration and interest in this fic; which i hate because I still have so much to write about. I just hope you will stick with me and bear my lack of updates for a little while.


	49. Chapter 49

Derek slowly started coming out of his dream where he was on the beach playing with Morgan and her cousins in sands; slowly he started feeling the softness of the bed linens instead of the roughness of the sand and a ray of sun burning against his cheek instead of the chill wind. Opening his eyes, Derek stretched his body and started coming back to reality. He stood like that, staring at the ceiling, until he realized he was awake indeed. Then he heard a sigh coming from Morgan's crib. He stood and listened if she was awake also.

Quietly he got off the bed and walked across the room to Morgan's crib. She was sleeping peacefully onto her back, holding tightly on her favorite blanket. Derek noticed how tight she was holding on it when he tried to take it out of her hand and pull it over her body. Morgan sighed again then and waved her tiny hand, shooing Derek's away from her.

Derek smiled and gently stroked her cheek. He wanted to linger there by her crib a moment longer, but then he remembered the scare she gave them that morning when she woke up suddenly, snapping her eyes wide open. So he decided to let her wake up alone and returned in bed to Meredith.

Meredith was lying onto her back, sleeping peacefully just like Morgan. Derek propped up on his elbow and stood watching Meredith's sleep. There was nothing to meditate about anymore, so he just watched her, enjoying the moment.

As he kept watching her, suddenly Meredith opened her eyes widely and they stirred together.

"God, Derek!" she gasped, instinctively covering herself with the blanket, scared by Derek's unexpected hover. "You scared me."

"I didn't do anything," Derek said in his defense, same as Meredith feeling his heart beating madly inside his chest. "You were the one that scared me."

"Me?" Meredith argued quietly because she knew Morgan was still in the room. She stood up, frowning. "You're the one watching me sleep. It's creepy."

"No," Derek disagreed. "The way you and Morgan seem to open your eyes is creepy."

"Then stop watching up while we sleep," she frowned.

Derek took a deep breath and a smile crept on his face, then a chuckle came out quietly. He cupped her cheek and leaned to her, kissing her. "I can't help it. You're too cute."

Meredith giggled and playfully slapped his arm. She purred stretching her arms and body and leaned into his arms, snuggling with him. "I had a great nap."

Derek wrapped her into his arms and lay her back down. "Then let's have a proper waking too."

Meredith giggled and made herself comfortable between sheets, lifting the blanket and inviting Derek on top of her. Derek answered immediately to her invitation, gently laying on top of her and just half pressing his body weight against hers. He cradled her head between his hands, gently brushing the hair out of her face, and looked into her eyes.

"You're great," he told her.

"But I didn't do anything yet," Meredith laughed.

Derek smiled smugly. "I am anticipating correctly."

Meredith hugged his hip with her leg and pushed his waist against her, letting a soft moan escape at the touch. Her hands roamed all over his back, caressing him, until her fingers found the hem of his t-shirt and started rolling it up, pulling it off his head and tossing it on the floor then.

His lips brushed against hers, caressing them before capturing them entirely, and their tongues tasted each other's flavor. His hand traced the line of her thin body, looking impatiently for the touch of her soft skin. Meredith pushed him off her so he was on his back and she could get on top of him. Mounting him, she took her blouse off and threw it beside his t-shirt.

Derek let out a chuckle and smirked as he enjoyed the view on top of him.

"I know," Meredith smiled smugly and lay on him, propping her forearms beside his head and tracing kisses all over his face.

Derek just let her do what she wanted as she knew what she was doing and he was enjoying it too much.

Things were heating up quickly and neither of them could take a tease anymore. Derek lay Meredith onto her back again, getting on top of her, when they heard a door slamming and then a baby voice arguing with a grown-up.

"This can't be real," Derek groaned.

"Is the door locked?" Meredith asked him.

"Yes."

"Ignore them," she suggested, unwilling of stopping from love making.

Derek was a little reluctant, but he wanted to ignore them too. He started kissing Meredith and repositioning himself between her legs.

"Anna, get back here!" they heard Kathleen calling her daughter. "Morgan is not up yet."

Then it was a thud in their door and someone was trying the doorknob. They didn't have much trouble figuring out who that was.

"What did I tell you?" they heard Kathleen on the other side of the door and Anna's protest.

Morgan couldn't ignore the noise either and scared by the thud, she started crying in her crib.

Meredith whimpered while Derek fell on his side of bed, groaning. "I hate all these children." Then he felt Meredith's glare on his face. "Except for the poor baby," he wanted to make it clear.

Meredith shook her head and rolled her eyes while she sighed and stood out of bed. She got her blouse back and dressed it as she walked to Morgan's crib.

"I am dying, Meredith," Derek whimpered from the bed while Meredith picked Morgan into his arms. "Just… chill out… somehow," Meredith told him with a grump.

Morgan was agitated, rubbing her face with her fists and crying. Probably the scare and the sudden awaking caused her a small headache besides a bad mood. Meredith was bouncing her into her arms, talking to her and trying to convince her that nothing had happened. As the room seemed to be getting too small for her pacing and for Morgan's mood, Meredith decided to go outside.

"You're leaving?" Derek asked grumpily.

"Do you think we still have a chance?" she asked sarcastically with a glance at Morgan and didn't wait for Derek's answer, leaving the room.

On the hall, Meredith and Morgan were greeted by a very apologetic Kathleen. "I am so sorry. She woke her up, didn't she?"

Meredith sighed and answered with a nod.

"So sorry," Kathleen mutter apologetically. Then, as she gave a better look at Meredith, she noticed her flushed face and her quick breathe. "We interrupted something more than Morgan's sleep," she understood then.

"What?" Meredith asked, confused.

Kathleen smiled and waved her hand. "You go back in there and we'll take care of Morgan."

Meredith looked at her, dumbfounded and not expecting to be send back to have sex with Derek. "We… we're good. We were sleeping, so… we're good."

Kathleen smiled knowingly and took Morgan from Meredith's arms. Morgan didn't seem to calm down so easily and she didn't like much being taken away from her Mommy. "Don't worry. I totally understand. I have 5 children, so I do understand. Go back."

"Morgan…" Meredith wanted to find a way out, but Kathleen smiled, shaking her head.

"Mom!" she called for her mother. "Can you come here a little bit?"

Carolyn walked out of one of the bedrooms and smiled at Morgan as she came to them.

"Can you sit with Morgan for a while?" Kathleen asked her and already put Morgan in Carolyn's arms. "Derek is sleeping and Meredith…" she looked at Meredith, smiling at their small complicity. "She still needs some sleep."

"Of course I can sit with her," Carolyn offered gladly.

"See?" Kathleen told Meredith. "Go back to… sleep. Enjoy it. Morgan will be fine with us. Mom knows how to calm her down."

As they watched Morgan, they saw her indeed calmer in Carolyn's arms. She had her fingers into her mouth and with her other hand she was reaching for Carolyn's hair.

"We'll be fine," Carolyn reassured her as well.

Kathleen took her mother then and turned around, leaving Meredith dumbfounded on the hall. She didn't know how to feel about that besides embarrassment as one of Derek's sisters knew that she was going to have sex with him. She decided to go back into their room and clear her head in there. Listening briefly from the doorway, Morgan was calming down as Carolyn sounded like she was talking to her.

Coming down the stairs, Carolyn asked her daughter in whisper, "They are going to have sex, aren't they?"

Kathleen let out a chuckle. "Anna interrupted something, so I had to pay for that somehow."

Her mother laughed and shook her head. "What do you say if we spray some water on our face to freshen up a little bit?" she told Morgan.

As they reached at the stairs bottom, Anna and Trisha greeted them with excitement. That caused Morgan another crying and she started fussing in Carolyn's arms, hiding her face from her little cousins.

"You had enough of them," Carolyn chuckled. "Go and play with something else. Morgan is not your toy."

Anna showed a frown and wanted to protest, but Kathleen grabbed them by their arms and dragged them into the living room where the rest of the children were hanging around.

In the meantime, Carolyn took Morgan to the bathroom and turned the cold water on. She took care as she leaned the baby over the sink and cupped a little water in her hand and washed Morgan's face. Morgan didn't enjoy it very much but at the end of it, she was calm and sucking her thumb.

"Snack time," Carolyn told her and took her to kitchen, where she asked Nancy to prepare Morgan a bottle of milk.

Kathleen also joined them in there, taking a sit at the counter. "She's cute," she said, smiling at Morgan. "And Derek's happy."

"And Meredith is a very nice person too," Nancy added.

"She is," their mother agreed. "I just have to worry less and be have more faith."

"You should, because Meredith might be young, but she has a strong background," Kathleen pointed out. Meredith's story was almost entirely known by Derek's sisters, except for the fact that she had had a past with Mark Sloan.

"She has learned a lot from her past," Nancy agreed. She had to state that after the talk she and Meredith had had earlier that day.

"Morgan is like her," Kathleen said. "I noticed that she gets cranky most of the times when people hovers too much around her. Look at Anna and Trisha for example. She doesn't even stand their presence now. Meredith seemed to be this way too."

"I met her friends," Carolyn said. "She doesn't have many friends, but she's very happy with the ones she has."

"Morgan also likes being in the spotlight, I noticed," Kathleen continued. "She might have that from her father, which leads me to believe that he and Meredith were completely different from each other and therefore, they have no chance as couple."

"You're doing this for free for your family? Or you're going to charge Derek for this psychoanalysis?" her sister laughed.

"It doesn't seem to be so difficult so this time is on me," Kathleen chuckled.

"I am glad you two are getting along with Meredith," Carolyn smiled, slowly bouncing Morgan on her knees. She suddenly stopped as if she had frozen.

"What's wrong?" Nancy asked her mother, alarmed.

Carolyn waited a second longer before she looked at Morgan. "Are you doing something nasty in there?"

Morgan squeezed her eyes shut as her grandma asked her that and then, looking at her, she started giggling.

"I guess she's going to have milk a little bit later," Nancy laughed. "Where are Meredith and Derek? How come they left her alone with you?"

"Hey, I am an old woman so I can be trusted," Carolyn chuckled.

Nancy noticed her sister's grin and looked back and forth between her mother and her sister. "They're not doing what I think they are."

"That depends on you think they're doing," Kathleen answered.

"So, if I want to change Morgan's diaper now, I can't do it because I can't walk into their room."

"Actually, you can," said Carolyn and stood up. "I think I saw her bag in the bathroom upstairs," and held Morgan to Nancy.

"Fine," Nancy rolled her eyes and took the baby. "Are you done in there?" she asked Morgan. Morgan had her finger into her mouth and put her head down on Nancy's shoulder as she asked her that. "I guess you're done. We'll be right back," she told the others as she carried Morgan outside.

Upstairs, Nancy slowed down as she walked by Derek's door, but then she winced and she refused to hear any sound, rushing to the bathroom with Morgan. "That could be nastier than your diaper," she muttered to Morgan. She found her bag in there, but as there was not enough space she took her into her.

She laid Morgan on a blanket on the bed and started stripping her clothes off. She was impressed with Morgan's attitude at that time as she knew how sensitive she was getting when her parents weren't around. "Do you like your aunties?" she started baby talking to her. "Better than your cousins? I am sure better than your cousins because we don't suffocate you. You're a cutie."

Morgan showed a frown as Nancy called her cutie. Nancy chuckled. "Ok. You're a beauty," she cooed and blew a kiss against her stomach. That brought thrill in Morgan's laugher. "And you're smarty too." Morgan continued with the giggles while Nancy took her diaper off.

"What's that?" Nancy wondered as she noticed a darker spot on Morgan's waist. She picked her up, wanting to give a better look at it, but just then she heard Derek's laugh.

"Is that Morgan who's laughing?" he asked as he walked into her room.

"Yes, she is," Nancy smiled proudly. "Because I know how to entertain."

"Hmm," Derek chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

"I am changing her diaper and I just noticed she has a birth mark," Nancy said and wanted to lift Morgan's blouse to expose her waist.

"It is," Derek said quickly and tried to take Morgan from his sister, but Nancy noticed the tone of his voice and pulled back in time, keeping Morgan.

Derek smiled and tried to look calm. "Let me change her diaper. I am sure you had enough it."

"I don't mind," Nancy refused, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Please," Derek insisted.

His whole family knew Mark very well and therefore they knew his birth mark, almost identical with Morgan's.

Nancy stood firm and pushed Derek's hand away when he wanted to take Morgan. She laid Morgan back on bed and asked while she lifted her blouse, "So, how was the sex?"

"What?"

Nancy flashed him a knowing smile before she turned her attention back to Morgan. She took a look at the birth mark on her waist and stood thoughtful for a while. In this time, Derek was preparing a good explanation, although he knew there wasn't any.

"It will get smaller," she said after a while and nothing from her voice showed surprise or outrage. Derek was very confused now. It was impossible for Nancy not to know Mark's birth mark and see the reassemble between his and Morgan's. "Mark has a similar one," she said then, but again, nothing was surprising.

Apparently, Nancy didn't see the connection between Mark and Morgan as their mother had seen. Derek stood there with her while she put Morgan a clean diaper on and dressed her, wondering how that was possible. Then he remembered her confessions and thought she had a lot on her mind already. He had to talk to Meredith and asked her how their talk went.

"Don't worry," Nancy giggled when she picked Morgan up and saw Derek's face. "I won't say anything about sex."

Derek just smiled. "Can I have her now?"

"You're so possessive," Nancy rolled her eyes. "So… do you have any plan for the rest of the weekend?"

"I am planning on taking Meredith and Morgan out for dinner tonight," he answered.

"That sounds nice," she smiled and slowly the awkwardness of their previous fight started coming back. They went downstairs where the others were just not to be alone with each other.


	50. Chapter 50

Morgan couldn't stand being around her little cousins for more than half an hour and therefore, the children got bored of her and she got to spend a little time with Carolyn and be spoiled by her uncles. David's magic tricks entertained her the most and that was the first time Meredith and Derek saw the awe expression on her face.

Later on, as he didn't want anyone to see Morgan's birth mark, Derek asked his mother to have Morgan ready for their dinner.

In their room, Meredith was hovering over her suitcase, trying to decide what to wear.

"I told you it doesn't have to be very formal," Derek couldn't help but groan as he saw how slow she was moving.

"I am a fiancé now," Meredith stated, throwing her hands in the air with exasperation before starting fumbling again through her suitcase. "I can't wear my regular rags."

That brought a smile on his face and he walked up to her, bringing her into his arms. "Of course you can still wear your regular rags. I wouldn't mind."

Meredith looked at him with distrust. She stepped back from his arms and bent over the suitcase; from there she picked an ivory sweater and a pair of black jeans.

"You could try a skirt though," Derek said quietly.

Meredith sighed and turned to him with a glare. "Jeans and sweater." He hurried to agree. "You look great in whatever that makes you feel comfortable."

Meredith threw the jeans back in the suitcase then. "Good, because I think I gained a little weight since I gave birth."

Derek looked at her, puzzled. He shook his head and muttered, "We're speaking in different dialects, I think." He let Meredith chose the outfit what she wanted and, while she was doing it, he went into the bathroom to arrange his hair. Once that was solved, Derek was ready for going out.

To give Meredith a little more time, he went to see how his mother was doing with Morgan. Crossing the hall to her room, Derek heard his sisters and nieces downstairs and he sighed with relief as none had assisted Carolyn. Walking inside, Derek found Morgan sitting on her bum on the bed while his mother was arranging her hair with a silk hair band. As Carolyn tied it on her head, Morgan started fussing and brushed the band off her head; being silky, same as her hair, the band fell off easily.

"Please, Morgan," Carolyn asked her with a begging, not yet noticing Derek's presence in the room. "It really looks nice on you." Then she tried to tie it again, but Morgan was firm. She didn't like it. Once the band fell off again, Morgan also got on her knees and started crawling away from her grandma.

"How many times did you try doing it?" Derek laughed, making his presence there noticed.

As she heard Derek, Morgan stopped, got on her bum and held her arms out to him, whimpering.

"Come here," Derek laughed at her as he picked her up into his arms.

"I thought she would look nice," Carolyn replied matter-of-factly, trying not to look embarrassed. It was well known already that Carolyn liked dressing up her granddaughters.

"I don't remember you doing it with your daughters," Derek smiled. "Are you trying to catch up now?"

"Oh just shut up," Carolyn groaned. "Have I done a good job or not?" she asked him, pointing to Morgan's dress.

Derek looked down at Morgan's outfit; a tiny purple dress with a white waist band tying in a bow. Her dress was short sleeve and her arms looked adorable, especially with Derek's bracelet at her left wrist. As if she knew she was admired, Morgan giggled and slapped Derek. Derek caught her hand and held it in his as he kissed it. "You've done a great job," he smiled at his mom.

"Thank you," she answered and went to close the door. Then she turned to Derek, this time looking more serious and also confused. "Did Nancy see her birth mark?"

"Yes," Derek sighed. "Today when she changed her diaper. Why? Did she figure out something, because she didn't look like she had when she saw it?"

"No, she didn't and that's what confuses me," Carolyn answered. "Everyone knows Mark's birth sign and it's identical with Morgan's; it's located on the same place. She just pointed it to me, but she didn't mention about the resemblance with Mark's."

"Maybe she has other things on her mind."

"Other things? Derek, she notices anything no matter how busy and stressed she is. It must be something big holding her attention distracted then."

Derek just shrugged and didn't say anything, but there was still something on his face that told his mom that he might know something.

"Do you know anything and you're not telling me?" she asked him.

"No," he answered. "She didn't tell me anything," he lied. Then he was ready to get out of there and get rid of his mom's suspicions. "I have to see if Meredith is ready." He told her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then left the room with Morgan.

Back in their bedroom, Derek found Meredith brushing her hair and she was wearing a pair of black pants and a purple blouse, matching with Morgan's dress color. "You've started to develop a sense of style in your wardrobe," Derek chuckled.

Meredith just smiled and took Morgan from Derek. "You look pretty," she smiled at her daughter and Morgan answered with the same giggle as earlier when Derek had complimented her too. "I like her when she's cheerful," she looked at Derek.

"Everyone likes her when she's cheerful. Some of us like her mood swings too," Derek chuckled.

"She has been very moody lately," Meredith said, a little worried.

"She's growing. Do you think it's easy to grow up?" he wanted to comfort her.

"I don't know," Meredith sighed. "I didn't know I was growing until I was 18."

"Don't worry. We'll help her grow without any problem or complication." Derek put his arms around them and gave each a kiss. "So?" he asked Meredith.

"So?" Meredith asked back, not knowing what he was talking about. Then she remembered. "Oh."

"How did it go?" he asked her, wanting details about her talk with Nancy.

"I don't know," Meredith shrugged. "I talked to her, but she's still the one that takes decisions toward her life."

"I know, but do you think you got her thinking?"

Meredith wasn't sure and she didn't want to give Derek false hopes. "I hope so. I really do. But now you're her brother. You should talk to her and listen to her. Be there for her. I am a stranger to her, but you're her brother. You know her better and she listens differently to you. Everyone noticed how you two are avoiding each other."

Derek just nodded his head once. "Let's go. We're going to be late."

Without commenting more about Nancy, Derek and Meredith headed to the restaurant with Morgan. Derek also avoided mentioning to Meredith about the fact that Nancy had seen Morgan's birth mark. Nancy seemed too busy with her own problems to figure out the connection between Mark and Morgan and therefore, Derek had no reason to alarm Meredith about that. On their way to the restaurant, they talked about Morgan and her cousins, a little about his sisters and their husband and also about the things that happened since they got there, and Derek was pleased to see how great and comfortable Meredith started feeling with his family.

At the restaurant, they were greeted by a young waitress who couldn't stop from pinching Morgan's cheeks. That annoyed Meredith terribly. As she didn't want to be rude, she passed Morgan to Derek, who was taller than the waitress and made it difficult to reach for Morgan at that height.

She led them to their table and handed them the menus, telling them she would bring a highchair for Morgan immediately; not before she pinched Morgan's cheek one more time. In that moment, Meredith wanted to protest, but Derek anticipated her reaction and held her hand, stopping her.

"At least Morgan doesn't mind," Derek pointed out, wanting to save the waitress.

"I don't care," Meredith argued quietly. "She didn't wash her hands. She hands the menus, touches things… Not even I touch her cheeks this much and if I do, I cleaned them well before doing it."

"Just calm down," Derek chuckled. "I need to go to the men's room. Promise you'll be good?"

Meredith rolled her eyes and smiled.

"I will have what you have," Derek leaned to her, kissing her, before he stood up and left to the bathroom.

The waitress came back, bringing a highchair. She bent to Morgan, smiling and cooing.

"Please," Meredith said when the waitress reached with her hand for Morgan's cheek. "She has sensitive skin. You need to be very clean on your hands."

"Oh," the waitress smiled embarrassed. "I am sorry. Yeah. I should be more careful."

"You should," Meredith smiled sarcastically.

While the waitress got some help with the chair from a waiter, Meredith held Morgan on her knees and looked through the menu. When the chair was set, the waitress was also ready to take their order.

After she told her the order, Meredith stood up to put Morgan in the highchair, but then she noticed someone watching them, not far from their table. There was a tall redhead, very classy, that looked quickly away when Meredith caught her staring. But then she glanced at them again and came to them hesitating. She bent to Morgan and just smiled.

"She's so pretty," she said.

Confused, Meredith smiled gratefully. Then the woman straightened up and looked at Meredith, watching her, until Meredith lifted a brow, questioning.

"Enjoy your dinner," the woman smiled kindly and headed to the exit, leaving the air filled with an expensive scent.

Meredith stared after her, confused. She wasn't the first person that stopped by to coo at Morgan, but she did it in a different way; like she was studying her.

Derek was two tables away when his feet froze. He blinked once and opened his eyes wider. He watched the woman smiling at Morgan and then telling Meredith a few words. Panic swept through him as he tried to read their lips. As Meredith stood calm and smiled politely at that woman, Derek was sure that nothing was happening. He watched her leaving as well; just then he started moving again and came back to the table.

"What did she want?" Derek asked Meredith.

"To look closer at Morgan," Meredith shrugged. "I am telling you, people stares make me feel like I am carrying a monkey from the Zoo with me," she grumbled.

Derek didn't hear what she said; he looked up at the doors as if he was watching beyond them. He didn't know what to believe about that. He surely hadn't expected to meet his ex-wife there in Hampton. Did she see him coming with Meredith? Did she know who Meredith and Morgan were? He shook all those questions out his thoughts and turned his full attention to his family, enjoying their night out. Maybe his family knew something about that.

Later, when they arrived home, Derek and Meredith found Kathleen sitting with her husband in a corner of the porch and Derek just waved and walked inside with Meredith and Morgan. Morgan had started snoozing no long ago; she had liked so much the cheese cake she had for dessert that Meredith allowed her to have a little more than necessary and they were hoping now that she would go to sleep without a stomachache.

Walking inside, Derek saw light in living room. He gave Morgan a kiss, lingering against her cheek and smelled sweetly like cheese, and let her go with her Mommy to get ready for bed. Derek headed to living room to see if his mother was there.

Carolyn was there indeed, sitting in the couch and reading from a book. She looked up as she heard someone approaching.

"How was dinner?" she smiled.

Derek walked over to her couch and set down beside her. "Dinner was good," he answered and sneaked his arm around his mother.

"Did Morgan like the food?"

Derek nodded his head firmly. "You should have seen her devouring the cheese cake. She used both hands," he chuckled.

"She's growing unbelievably fast, isn't she?" his mother smiled knowingly.

"Unbelievably," Derek agreed.

"So everything is going on great with you," she said and she was clearly waiting for assurance.

"Absolutely great," Derek reassured her. "I don't think we told you. We set the wedding date."

"You did?" she asked, surprised.

Derek nodded and answered, "On the 5th of May."

"But…" Carolyn stammered a little, surprised. "That's in less than a month."

Derek smiled as if he was apologizing. "Or in almost a year."

Carolyn was visibly a little disappointed at first, but then she sighed and smiled at her son. "Time will fly by too fast."

"We know. We already talked about a location. We'll have the wedding on Orcas Island, near Seattle."

"To the beach," Carolyn approved, impressed.

"Meredith and I were there recently and the place is fantastic. It's so fantastic that they couldn't book us a reservation sooner than next year in May."

Carolyn took his hand and cradled it between hers. She patted him gently while putting her head down on his shoulder. "I am glad things turned out this way for you. I like Meredith better than Addison," she said quietly.

"They're two different people and I like Meredith better too," Derek answered. "And speaking of Addison…" he sighed and his mother pulled away as if she had guessed that he had something serious to say. "I might be crazy, but I think I saw Addison today at the restaurant."

"Did she see you?" Carolyn asked.

"I don't know," Derek shrugged. "I went to the men's room and when I came back I saw someone at our table, smiling at Morgan and telling Meredith something. Then she left. I am almost sure, that was Addison."

"That's strange," Carolyn mused.

"I don't know," Derek sighed.

"What did she tell Meredith?"

"Nothing really; she noticed Morgan and complimented her a little."

"Maybe it wasn't her," Carolyn muttered, unsure.

"Maybe," Derek answered the same way.

As neither of them wanted to mention Addison anymore, the topic moved to Derek's other relatives, his mother updating him with a few news from their lives. They also remembered of good old times of his childhood, without even noticing when Kathleen and Colin got back into the house and joined to their talk. A little bit later, they heard the door unlocking and Derek looked questioningly at the others.

"Nancy and David were out too," his mother answered.

Derek was surprised to hear his sister laughing noisily and to see her holding hands with David. It looked like Meredith gave her a successful lecture after all.

"Oh," David smiled apologetically as he and Nancy walked into the living room. "I thought you were in bed."

"So you could empty mom's bar?" Derek chuckled.

"Her bar is always empty," Kathleen joked. "Like you don't know."

"Well, I am sorry for being responsible," Carolyn replied with a fake a frown.

"We're going upstairs then," Nancy told them and wanted to pull David after her, but he stopped her and asked her, "Aren't you going to tell them?"

Nancy looked at him confused at first, but then she remembered. "I think we saw Addison earlier in a bar. She was her friend Ella."

Derek and Carolyn looked at each other. The woman Derek had seen was Addison indeed.

"What?" everyone asked them.

"I saw her at the restaurant too," Derek answered and went on telling them about the scene with Morgan and Meredith.

"Did she saw you?" Kathleen asked him. "Do you think she knew who Meredith and Morgan were?"

But Derek couldn't answer right away, because Nancy cut in. "It was Addison. Meredith and I walked today along the shore and when we passed past your house, we thought we saw the front door open."

Derek thought about that for a moment. "I think she could know who Meredith and Morgan were. First of all, she never stops to coo at a stranger's baby and, second of all, she could have seen us today at the beach."

Everyone agreed.

"Does Meredith know who that woman was?" Carolyn asked Derek.

Derek hadn't thought about Meredith or even telling her. "No. I don't think Addison introduced herself to her."

"Then everything was nothing but a slight awkward moment," David added quickly, making everyone turn and look curious at his hurry. It was obvious by the way he was holding Nancy's hand and he was shifting his weight from one foot to another that he was in a hurry.

"That's right," Derek chuckled. "I should go and help Meredith with Morgan."

"Then we're going upstairs too," David stated and he and Nancy waved at them.

"We're going to make a snack," Kathleen stated as she and Colin stood up. "Do you want to join us?" she asked her mother and then looked at Derek too.

"No. I just ate," Derek answered and his mother refused also, saying it was a late hour for her.

As Derek and Carolyn headed to the stairs, Carolyn sighed with content. "I am glad they're solving their problems."

"Who?" Derek asked her, confused.

Carolyn just looked at Nancy's bedroom.

"You knew?" he asked her.

"I am a mother and after all these years I got to see things easily," she stated. "Besides that, you're not a good liar. How did you know?"

"She told me," Derek answered. "And Meredith talked to her," he added, smirking.

Carolyn just chuckled and patted him on the back. "Good night, Derek."

"Good night, mom," he leaned down and kissed her.

Derek opened the door slowly and sneaking his head inside, saw Meredith lying on the bed with Morgan.

"Is she sleeping?" Derek asked in whisper.

"She is now," Meredith answered, gently rubbing against Morgan's stomach.

Closing the door and picking Morgan's clothes from the floor, Derek made a face and asked, "What's this smell?"

"The clothes you're holding," Meredith answered and stood up from the bed. Derek looked puzzled. "She threw up a little. I think she had too much cheese cake."

"You think?" Derek asked sarcastically, raising his voice a little.

"I know," Meredith frowned at his reproach.

"Why didn't you call me from downstairs?" Derek asked her as he walked up to the bed to look at Morgan.

"Because you were with your family and because I am a doctor too, so I had everything under control."

"How come I didn't hear her crying?"

"Because she didn't cry. You should have seen how her face lit up after she got everything out," answered Meredith. "Do you want to take her to her crib while I wash her dress?"

Derek grinned at her silly question. "Ok." Meredith laughed. "I hope she throws up on you too."

"Oh that's not going to happen to me," Derek answered smugly. "But I know someone who wasn't that lucky," he said, referring at Mark when being in hospital Morgan threw up on him.

"See? She knows how to scary her daddies away," Meredith joked.

"And you think I chicken out so easily?" Derek lifted a brow.

Meredith just smiled; she knew he could be trusted. After she cleaned Morgan's dress, Meredith returned in their room. Morgan was sleeping soundly in her crib and Derek had changed his clothes. She turned the light off and walked to the bed, sneaking beside Derek while he held the quilt up for her and nestling beside him.

"Do you remember that woman from the restaurant?" Derek asked her out of nowhere.

Meredith took a moment to remembered and answered, "What about her?"

"That was Addison," he answered short.

Meredith looked up and threw the darkness could see he was looking at her. "Your ex-wife?" Derek nodded his head. Meredith looked at him a moment longer and put her head back down on his chest saying just, "Oh."

"Nancy said she and David saw her too earlier."

Meredith didn't say anything back.

At her silence, Derek wrapped tighter his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Do you think she knew who we were?" Meredith asked just then.

"I don't know."

"I think she does," she said. "She looked at us in a way."

Derek was curious now, but he wasn't sure if it was cautious of him to talk to Meredith about this. He dared to ask though, "In what way?"

Meredith shrugged. "In a way. Like she wanted to look better at us," she answered. "She seems nice," she added then.

Derek just kissed her, tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers. "Guess what?" he was ready to move from this subject and bring Nancy up.

"Guess about what?"

"About Nancy."

Meredith looked up at him again and met his grin. "Because I talked to her?"

"Because you talked to her," he answered.

She put her head down again. "Wow."

"See? You should not underestimate yourself," he encouraged her.

"What plans do we have for tomorrow morning?" she changed the subject as well. Right in that moment a lightning filled the room with light for a second and then a thunder broke outside. "I guess we know," Meredith answered herself.

Indeed, the rain didn't stop during the night and it kept pouring in the morning too. This gave Carolyn the chance to spend a little more time alone with Morgan, Meredith and Derek and it also gave the chance to the older cousins to meet Morgan better. Jessie proved to be very patient and careful with the babies and Morgan really liked the new face.

It was time for Meredith and Derek to get ready for leaving at noon. Carolyn accompanied them to the airport and sang a lullaby to Morgan during the ride and Morgan put her thumb into her mouth and, watching her grandma's lips, she started snoozing. The flight was perfect for everyone as Morgan slept throughout the flight and there was no noisy child in the plane disturbing her sleep. Morgan was ready now to see her dog.


	51. Chapter 51

Seattle expected them with its welcoming rain that evening. After a nap in the airplane, Meredith snoozed beside Morgan in the backseats all the way until home, letting Derek drive them safely through rain and thunders.

Derek was tired too. He had slept for a little while during the flight also, but now he had to be wide awake to watch the road. A smile lit up his face each time he glanced through the rearview mirror and watched Meredith sleeping with her head over Morgan's. The visit to his family went better than expected and no matter what disagreements Morgan had with Trisha and Anna, he was sure she had had a great time with them. Back in Seattle now, Addison was left in New York and in the back of his mind again, same as Nancy's issues, because his home meant this rainy city now and his family were Meredith and Morgan.

The wheels slid on the wet pavement of Meredith's driveway, shaking the car a little bit and waking up the backseats passengers. While Meredith and Morgan were coming out of their sleeping state, Derek looked at the house and noticed the lights on. Claudia must be there with Cujo.

"We're home," Meredith noticed, yawning sleepily.

"We are," Derek nodded.

"And it's raining," she sighed with a little wistfulness. "We're home, Morgan," she smiled at her sleepy baby.

Morgan started fussing in her car seat, leaning to her mother. Meredith unbuckled her and took her into his arms.

"And there's someone who can't wait to see us," Derek told them, glancing back at the house.

"Cujo!" Meredith beamed at Morgan. Morgan yawned and shook her head as if she was nodding.

Because the rain was pouring outside, Derek took off his jacket to offer it to Meredith and Morgan for protection. In the same time, Meredith was gathering Morgan's clothes and her bag, so neither of them saw when the front door opened and Cujo ran outside past Claudia, and all of them jumped a little when Cujo's paws hit Meredith's window.

Though scared at first, Morgan whimpered and leaned to the window from her mommy's arms.

"Great, he's all soaked now," Meredith grumbled.

Claudia hurried with the umbrella at Meredith's side. "Give her to me," she said and sneaked an arm around Morgan. She placed her as up on her waist as possible to keep her out of Cujo's reach- who was jumping all around them, greeting each of them.

"Hey!" Derek laughed when Cujo jumped on him. "Good thing we have a wash machine."

Meredith took the things from the backseat and went ahead with Claudia into the house, leaving Derek bring the rest of the luggage. Cujo went with the women, constantly jumping on Meredith and on Claudia to get to Morgan.

Though she didn't like wet dogs, Meredith was happy with Cujo's joy of seeing them and as they entered the house, she knelt down and Cujo lay down onto his back to be petted.

"Look who else is home," Claudia told Cujo and knelt with Morgan into her arms. Cujo jumped up right away and ran to them, sniffing Morgan all around.

Probably dazed by his constant running, Morgan just watched the dog, curious. Now that he was sniffing her, Morgan seemed to recognize her friend and she started giggling and slapping Cujo. He gladly received her slaps.

"How was the flight?" Claudia asked Meredith. "I know you told me about that boy."

"This time it was perfect. She slept during the takeoff and during the landing, so she didn't feel anything," Meredith answered.

"And how was the trip?" Claudia asked then and looking better at Morgan, saw her face was a little tanner now. "You got sunny weather I can see."

Meredith noticed that for the first time. "She's tanned."

"You're tanned too," Claudia pointed out.

"The weather was perfect. Until last night."

"Well, at least she got to spend some time on the beach."

"She did," Meredith smiled just remembering Morgan on the beach or walking with her and Derek on the shore.

"We didn't do much shopping, but look how much I have to carry," Derek chuckled as he walked into the house with bags tucked under his arms and in his hands.

Cujo left Morgan to run back to Derek and greet him once more. "Are you trying to be helpful?" Derek chuckled as he tried to keep the bags away from the dog. "Because you're not." And Meredith hurried to help him.

"We brought you something," she told Claudia, coming with two bags for her. "In here, you have Kathleen's cookies, Carolyn's cookies and David's brownies." Then she leaned to her and said, "Everyone cooks in his family."

Derek and Claudia laughed. "You have a lot of teachers then," Claudia teased her.

Meredith smiled. "Or I have Derek and he's enough. I don't eat that much anyway."

"Thank you," Claudia thanked her for the cookies and took the bag.

Derek saw Meredith wasn't going to give her the other bag, so he looked at her and glanced questioningly to the bag. Meredith looked at him, unsure.

"We also bought you something," Derek told Claudia, making Meredith pass her the bag.

"You shouldn't have," Claudia smiled. As she opened it, she took out a pink knitted sweater. "Thank you," she smiled, sincerely impressed.

Derek chuckled as he knew better. "That's not all," he stated, but as Claudia looked into the bag, there was nothing else.

Derek started laughing then and looked through other bags. He took out an identical sweater but in an infant size.

"Morgan has one too," Claudia laughed. "That's really cute."

"I know. Meredith thinks it's cheesy," Derek rolled his eyes. "But I know you better."

"Thank you," Claudia smiled at both of them. "I guess I have to wear it when I go out with Morgan, right?"

"Right," Derek approved.

"You don't really have to," Meredith giggled. "But we're glad you like it."

"I like the sweater and I also like the idea."

"Ok, I am taking these upstairs," Derek stated.

As he walked around the woman to leave the living room, Derek saw Cujo sniffing in Claudia's bag with cookies. "Those cookies are too good to be eaten by a dog," he stated.

Claudia saw Cujo just then and hurried take the bag from his reach. "I am sure they brought you something," she told him.

"We didn't," Meredith looked at him apologetically.

"That's ok," Claudia laughed. "He's still happy to see you."

Cujo fell down at their feet and watched them, happily wriggling his tail.

"We're happy to see you too," Meredith crouched down at him and started petting him. Cujo rolled onto his back, ready to be spoiled.

Claudia kissed Morgan and laid her onto her arms, rocking her slowly. Morgan enjoyed that as she stuffed her fingers into her mouth and giggled at her.

"She's crawling," Meredith announced proudly. "Like really crawling. She can even compete for a crawling race."

"Is that right, Morgan?" Claudia asked the baby, lifting her. Morgan giggled at her. "Yesterday she was teething."

"I know," Meredith agreed.

"Tomorrow you'll be walking and next week you'll be getting married."

"I don't think so," Meredith stated. "Walking, maybe, but getting married… not for the next couple of years."

"Daddy has allies," Claudia warned Morgan.

"I was talking about getting married, not about dating," Meredith giggled, rolling her eyes at Claudia's comment.

"And I was just kidding," Claudia laughed. Smiling at Meredith, Claudia also watched her carefully. "You look like you enjoyed this short vacation."

"It was nice," Meredith admitted and slowly her smile turned into giggles. "Derek and I didn't have much time for ourselves, but we had an interesting time with his family."

"Yeah," Meredith sighed with satisfied smile.

"Cool," Claudia chuckled and Meredith looked at her, amused. "I have a teenage niece staying over this weekend and she's obsessed with this word."

"Are you too?" Meredith laughed.

"No, but I think she imprinted it in my brain for life."

"Don't make me talk to Derek then," Meredith joked.

Claudia didn't have to ask more to find out about what a great time they had had with Derek's family. Meredith was glowing. If she didn't know about Meredith's decision of not having a baby any time soon, she would say she was pregnant. As she was still knelt, Morgan was having her hands washed by Cujo's tongue now. Morgan looked different too. It's been only two days, but Claudia could see that Morgan had grown a little.

After Derek came downstairs, they stood for a cup of coffee and filled each other with stories from Seattle and New York. Claudia didn't have much too say besides her niece as only two days had passed from their departure, but Derek and Meredith found some to tell her.

Derek – being Daddy Derek now- wanted to brag a little with what his little girl could do now. He gathered everyone in the living room, spread a blanket on the floor and put Morgan down on it. He also jingled a few toys at her and then set them down on the blanket, further from Morgan. Attracted by her forgotten toys, Morgan whimpered as she tried to reach with her hand to the toys.

"Come and take them," Derek encouraged her, jingling the toys.

Then Morgan fell on her knees and hands and slowly started dragging her body on the blanket. As that was exhausting, she stopped a little and watched the toys, focusing. She started crawling with more dexterity now, having everyone explode in applauses and laughs.

Morgan laughed at them, though she didn't know what the reason for their joy was, but she had the satisfaction to have reached to her toys.

Claudia excused herself, saying she had promised a snack to her niece.

"Cool!" Meredith giggled as she walked her to the door.

"Yeah," Claudia laughed. "Good night, Morgan!" she told Morgan and waved at her.

With her toys and her dog, Morgan just glanced up at her, throwing a hand in the air.

"I will see you in the morning," Claudia told Meredith before walking outside in the rain.

Meredith realized that her time with her daughter was about to end soon and that brought a shadow on her face. Derek tried to comfort her, tempting her with the possibility of performing outstanding surgeries the next day. He also told her that it was still early and their time alone with Morgan wasn't over.

They let Morgan down on her blanket with her toys and Cujo, and they nestled in the couch, into each other's arms. Meredith had her head down on his chest, holding her eyes closed while he slowly ran his fingers through her hair, breathing her scent in. With her in his arms like in that moment, Derek recognized a little from Morgan's scent and he couldn't help but wonder if he had Morgan's scent as well.

"Smell me," Derek told Meredith, suddenly deciding to answer to his curiosity.

Meredith looked up at him, lifting a brow.

"I know," Derek chuckled at her curious expression. "I want to see if I smell like Morgan."

Meredith narrowed her eyes, even more curious now.

"Please," he insisted.

"You don't smell like Morgan," she told him.

"You don't smell like her either, but if I breathe you in, you do. So breathe me in."

"Derek," she frowned.

"Please," he smiled sweetly.

Meredith rolled her eyes and smelled his shirt. "You smell like cologne," she answered right away.

"No," Derek whimpered childishly. "You have to breathe me in."

"Derek," Meredith whimpered too.

"Please," he insisted once more. "Smell my hair," he suggested.

"Don't you want me to smell your shoes too," Meredith replied sarcastically.

Derek frowned, not tasting her so called joke.

"Derek, she's been inside my body for nine months, and then I breast fed her and she burped on me and she slept with me. She's part of my body; of course I carry her scent."

Derek listened carefully to her explanation, visibly not entirely pleased with it. "But she burped on me too. She even puked on me."

Meredith sighed and nuzzled against his shoulder. She took her time with the breathing in and then looked at him. "You have a little scent from her."

"You're just saying that," Derek grumbled.

Meredith was surprised to see that he was affected by this for real. "Now you're so exaggerating. Has your testosterone gone wild?" she asked and stood up from his arms. "Here, take Morgan," she said and froze as she looked down at the empty blanket. "Where's Morgan?"

"She's…" Derek wanted to answer 'on the blanket', but as he stood up as well, he found the blanket empty and no sign of Morgan and Cujo. Only her toys were there. "Where is she?" he asked, both of them jumping on their feet and searching around the couch. "Did you lock the door?" he asked Meredith.

"Of course," Meredith retorted, not liking to be accused of such neglect.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, not completely trusting her.

That offended Meredith deeply. "I did! And she can't even reach to the doorknob."

Derek sighed and apologetically rubbed her arm. "She must be somewhere around here. She's crawling now."

"Why don't you follow her scent," Meredith smiled, finding the opportunity of mocking him for his previous jealousy.

"Maybe that's what I am going to do," he huffed.

"Good boy, Cujo," Meredith giggled, patting the back of his head.

Derek turned to Meredith suddenly. "Cujo. Where Morgan is, Cujo is too."

"Cujo!" Meredith called the dog. "Cujo!" she called louder as he was late arriving.

Meredith and Derek shared a concerned look. But they knew that had no reason of worry. The doors were locked so the baby and the dog must have fallen asleep somewhere.

Walking around the room, they saw Cujo's tail coming out from under the table, wriggling. As they got on their knees to look under the table, they were greeted by Morgan's laugher.

"Hide and seek, Morgan? At this age?" Meredith giggled. "Do you want to give Mommy a heart attack? Come here."

Morgan giggled, stuffing her fingers into her mouth.

"Morgan," Derek tried too.

Now they found out that Morgan started playing games too.

"Come here, Morgan," Meredith called her again.

Derek looked at Meredith and made her a sign to stand up. They stood up together and made a step back from the table. "Cujo! Let's go out for a walk." He told the dog.

Cujo was out in a second. Derek and Meredith took Cujo and walked further from the table, in all this time watching the table and expecting Morgan to come out any second now. Indeed, they saw her soon crawling out.

Coming out from under the table and seeing her parents and dog so far from her, she got on her seat and started whimpering.

"Do you want me to walk the dog?" Meredith offered.

Derek grinned at her. "If you don't mind."

Meredith giggled and grabbed the jacket and the umbrella, going outside with Cujo. Derek hurried to pick his daughter up from the floor.

"You're hiding from us, huh?" he chuckled, tossing Morgan up in the air. He laughed at her delightful laugh. "You're good at it, but please don't do it again."

Morgan opened her mouth wide and yawned. "Tired already? I guess it's the crawling. You like it, don't you? Yeah, the walking is even better. Let's get you ready and wait for Mommy and Cujo to tell them good night." And so Derek went upstairs with his little girl. They had a few minutes for a daddy and his princess moment before Meredith and Cujo were back.


	52. Chapter 52

The rain was still thudding against their bedroom window at 5 o'clock in the morning, when Meredith opened her eyes, awakened by the noise. Derek was sleeping soundly beside her, with one arm beneath her pillow. Meredith smiled with content at the present moment; Derek sleeping beside her, the rain outside and their baby girl sleeping next door. Each of these things were so familiar and common to Meredith, and absolutely needful.

The sleep was gone already. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep for just another one hour. Besides that, being back in her bed, in her home, Meredith had had a good night sleep. She scooted closer to Derek and put her head down on his chest.

Derek felt her presence and draped an arm around her, but kept sleeping.

Meredith listened to the beat of his heart and tried to hear hers in unison with his. Even his heart beat was familiar to her now. Her smile became brighter with this thought. The rain outside and Derek's breathing were fine music to Meredith, but soon she heard a better melody coming from the baby monitor; her baby daughter's prattle.

Without any second thought, Meredith sneaked out of bed. If Morgan was awake already, she was going to take advantage of it and spend a little mommy and daughter moment. Blindly she searched for her sweats and tee shirt and put them on once she found them. Then she tiptoed to the door and slid outside on the dark hall. She crossed the hall and slowly pushed the door opened to Morgan's bedroom.

Meredith heard her prattle clearly now. She turned the light on, adjusting it to a dim level and just then Morgan became quiet. Meredith watched her with a smile as she got on her knees and sat up on her bum. She was doing it so easily now. This easily she would be walking soon also, Meredith smiled, half regretting the speed Morgan was growing with.

As someone turned the light on, but didn't say anything, Morgan became curious. She grabbed the bars of her crib and tried to look through it. Cujo stood up too and smelled her hands through the bars.

"Good morning, Morgan!" Meredith said softly as she walked to her crib.

Morgan giggled, delighted.

"You're up early," she bent over the crib and picked Morgan into her arms. "And you're so quiet. Are you listening to the rain too?"

Meredith grabbed Morgan's blanket from the crib and took Morgan to the window where the rocking chair was. She sat down, with Morgan on her lap and Cujo at her feet, and covered them with the blanket. Morgan was half lying in her Mommy's arms now. Meredith gently ran her fingers over her forehead. Morgan looked so comfortable in her arms, with her presence that Meredith got amazed of how perfect her life was. All the fluffiness she lived since the night her daughter and Derek joined to her life. Maybe it wasn't perfect to the others, but she hadn't known other type of perfection besides this one offered by Morgan and Derek.

She didn't realize she was crying until Morgan touched her cheek and swept a tear onto her finger, taking it into her mouth then.

Meredith laughed and took her hand, kissing it. "Mommy is so silly sometimes. Let's get you a clean diaper and a clean outfit." She cooed at her baby and lifted her up standing on her own feet. "Look how big you are!" Morgan laughed at her Mommy and reached with her hand to grab her nose. Meredith giggled and nuzzled against Morgan's tummy, causing her giggles of thrill.

Just when Morgan chocked, Meredith stopped from tickling her baby and got up, taking her to the table. Morgan happily wriggled her arms and legs as her mother undressed her, showing a rare good mood for an early morning. Meredith couldn't enjoy more her daughter's bright mood. As she undressed her and awed at Morgan's happiness, words popped into her head and soon they were forming the lines of a song: _"You're my honeybunch, __sugar plum pumpy umpy-pumpki,__ You're my sweetie pie!" _ and though she couldn't remember hearing this song before, she started singing it to Morgan … _"You're my cuppycake, gumdrop, __Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye__" _

At first, Morgan became quiet and listened to her mother's voice. As her mommy seemed to be enjoying singing that, Morgan got her excitement and started giggling and squealing, wriggling her arms and legs with more energy.

Meredith took her hands and started clapping as she kept singing to her baby… "_And I love you so And I want you to know… That I'll always be right here… And I love to sing these songs to you… Because you are so… dear…"_

"Now let's keep it down because we don't want anyone to hear me, do we?" Meredith laughed, picking her baby up.

Morgan put both hands on her face and her tiny hands started studying her eyelids, her nose and her nostrils. She seemed playful, but Meredith knew that she would soon start screaming for her breakfast. She put her back down on the table and dressed her, turning the baby monitor off before taking her daughter into her arms.

She walked downstairs, wanting to make Morgan something to eat. Rare were the moments when Meredith actually cooked for Morgan. Claudia was always around, expecting everyone with warm meals. This morning, was her morning with her daughter, so Meredith wanted to do everything by herself. She had been the first to greet her in the morning; she had talked to her, changed her clothes and sung to her. Next on the list was breakfast together. Meredith knew Derek wouldn't like that very much, but she didn't really care as he had more available mornings for Morgan than she had.

Meredith put Morgan down on the table and took a seat, watching her struggles of getting steady on her arms and knees and stand up. Morgan whimpered, not liking so much all that effort; but Meredith stood firm, letting her struggle until she succeeded. When she was on her knees and her Mommy started clapping and cheering, Morgan forgot about the effort and threw her arms in the air, giggling with satisfaction.

Meredith knew what the others thought about this, but she had no problem having her daughter have breakfast on the table. She brought the bowl in front of her and started feeding her with a teaspoon. Morgan was curious to see how the food felt in her hands, so Meredith found herself feeding a very smudgy baby girl, smelling like apple, bananas and biscuits.

"Delicious," Meredith kissed sloppily Morgan's cheeks until Morgan put her sticky hands on her mother's face. She washed her hands and face and put her on her hip as she took Cujo's food out of the cabinet and poured it in his bowl.

It didn't pass long and Claudia report for duty and soon Derek was up too.

Meredith was in kitchen, drinking her coffee and playing with Morgan, when Derek came downstairs. He had taken a shower and got dressed, carrying a huge smile on his face as he walked into the room.

"Good morning," he cheerfully made his presence noticed.

"Good morning, Derek," Claudia smiled and looked at Meredith, confused. "What's with the world today? It's pouring outside and everyone is so bright."

"I don't know," Meredith laughed, just as surprised as Claudia.

Derek walked up to Meredith and Morgan and leaned down, kissing Meredith. He crouched in front of her then and stroked Morgan's cheek. "Good morning, honey bun!"

Meredith gasped and turned bright red. Why hadn't she turned the monitor off before singing to Morgan? Now she just had to endure Derek's mockery.

Derek chuckled and gave Meredith a peck. "Gummy yummy."

"No gummy yummy!" Meredith slapped him playfully. "And no honey bun! You don't even know the words."

"What's going on here?" Claudia asked.

"Don't ask."

"Why don't you tell her?" Derek teased her. "She asked already."

Meredith smiled shyly and turned her back on him.

"I guess I don't want to know," Claudia nodded in understanding.

"What's with you up so early?" Derek asked Meredith. He rubbed his face and let out a yawn. "I know I could need a few more hours of sleep."

"I had a good night sleep in my bed," she answered.

"You'll have to get used to a new bed soon. Although I think we could take this bed with us. If you're mother doesn't mind."

Meredith looked at him, confused.

"Did you forget we're building a house?"

"The trailer," Meredith smiled as she remembered Derek's place. "Yeah," she muttered, remembering now the plans they had for building a house on Derek's land. "How is it going?"

"It's not really going, because we don't have a plan for the house yet," said Derek. "We need to make time and go see the offers. Maybe later on?"

"Maybe," she nodded. She hadn't thought about moving into a new house with Derek; she had forgotten actually. She sighed discreetly. She started getting used to her mom's house. It was homey now; it felt differently than it used to feel in her childhood. But she knew she could adjust to a new house, because there would Morgan and Derek be too.

"I am taking Cujo out for a walk," Derek stated and the dog was already up and ready to go. "Just one more kiss to my honey bun," he leaned in to kiss Morgan's cheek and then her mother. "And to her gummy yummy Mommy."

"It's the song!" Claudia exclaimed.

Derek and Meredith laughed.

"Don't say anything more," Meredith pled and Claudia chuckled at Meredith's embarrassment.

Derek took Cujo and went outside for a walk, while Meredith stood up with Morgan. "Can you stay with her? I need to take a shower and get ready for work."

"Of course," Claudia took Morgan into her arms and Meredith stroked gently her cheek before she left the kitchen.

The shower was refreshing and added to her good mood. It was a bright and shiny weather in her house this morning compared to the dark and twisty weather outside. As she walked out of the shower, wrapping herself in a bath towel, Meredith spotted her face in the mirror. She was smiling; everything about her features was smiling. Meredith giggled and looked away. She made her toilette and got dressed, ready to join to the family downstairs. She was about to walk out of the bedroom when she heard Derek's phone ringing on his nightstand.

Derek wasn't back yet from the walk, so Meredith hesitated a little, considering her option. She hurried to the nightstand; at least she would know what to tell Derek about the caller's id. Nancy's name and number were flashing on the display screen and Meredith didn't know what to do. She could answer to Nancy now; in her short visit to New York, the relationship between them became more friendly and familiar. She didn't want to seem nosy either though, so she put the phone back. The call ended. Meredith nodded to herself, "Better to have Derek answer."

She headed back to the door, but the phone stopped her again. She went back to the nightstand and it was Nancy again. Meredith picked up the phone, determined to answer this time.

"Hi, Nancy! It's Meredith."

A short silence came from the other side of the line. She must have taken her by surprise.

"Meredith," Nancy sounded surprised indeed. "Where's Derek?"

"He's out with the dog," answered Meredith.

"Oh. Will he be back soon?"

"Any minute now. I'll tell him you called."

"Ok," Nancy answered. Then another short silence.

"Or I could pass him the message if it's important," Meredith said.

"Actually…" Nancy seemed to be hesitating over her options. "I … I can tell you. After all, it involves you as well."

Meredith expected curiously to hear her.

"I just had a revelation," Nancy started. "I woke up and the first thing that popped into my head was Mark's birthmark. Morgan has an identical one."

Meredith felt chills sweeping through her body.

"I didn't pay attention to it when I first noticed the similarity, but suddenly I realized everything. You came from New York no long ago and you worked with Mark. You know Mark. And Mark and Morgan… their birthmarks. Mark is Morgan's father," was a conclusion and not a question for confirmation.

Meredith regretted she had picked up the phone and answered. She didn't know what to say or how to react. Even a movement would have convicted her now.

"You lied to us."

"I didn't," Meredith answered quietly.

"Of course," Nancy replied. "Derek knows. It was impossible not to know." And it was indeed impossible for him not to know as that was the same way he had found out about Morgan's birth father.

"How long did you think you could lie to us? Did you think it would go like this forever?" there was reproach in Nancy's voice now, though the tone was still low. "That's why Derek and Mark don't talk to each other anymore."

"They still talk," Meredith replied. "Not as much as before, but they're still friends."

"This is ridiculous. It was convenient for you Derek's decision of not telling us anything."

Meredith couldn't take such accusation. "It wasn't convenient. I asked him to tell you."

"You just asked him. To have your conscious ..."

"Maybe," Meredith didn't let her finish. "Both your mother and your brother said it would be better if we don't tell you anything."

"My mother?" Nancy snapped. "Does she know about this?"

"Yes, she does. She wasn't happy with it, but she thought it clearly and decided it would be better not to tell you and your sisters."

That let Nancy speechless.

Meredith didn't wait for her silence to wait, afraid of other reproaches. "I do have my conscious clear because Derek knows. He knows everything and he's still willing to be with us. What the rest of you think doesn't really matter to us." Then it was her turn to become quiet. "I'll tell Derek you called," she added quietly and hung up the phone.

The phone slipped out of her hands onto the nightstand and she sat down at the edge of the bed. Why was she feeling the weather inside her house just as dark and twisty as outside now?

Derek returned home shortly after Meredith hang up to Nancy. He shook the rain off outside on the porch, same as Cujo, and entered the house. Cujo ran ahead while Derek stood behind, taking his shoes off. From the doorway, Derek heard Morgan's happy prattle and Claudia's encouraging voice.

As he walked into the room, he found both, Morgan and Claudia, laid onto the carpet and sharing a set of toys. Derek chuckled quietly, especially when Cujo ran to them and licked Claudia's face. She jumped up quickly, wiping her face while Cujo lay down and wriggled his tail at her as if he was expecting a reward now.

"Bad dog," Claudia scolded.

"Now you were reachable to him," Derek laughed, taking the dog's side.

"Still," she frowned.

"Where's Meredith?" he noticed Meredith wasn't there.

"She left to take a shower right after you left, but she's not down yet," answered Claudia and, same as Derek, found weird her delay.

"I'll go see what's going on," said Derek and waved at Morgan as he turned around and headed to the stairs.

Arriving upstairs, Derek was greeted by silence. Their bedroom door was closed and no sound was coming from inside. Usually, you could hear the shower if that was on.

"Could she be sleeping?" Derek asked himself and slowly opened the door. It would have been unlikely of her to go back to sleep at this hour. Derek found her sitting at the edge of the bed, nervously chewing her bottom lip. "Meredith?" Derek asked softly as he made his way to her side of bed.

Meredith looked up at him with a nervous frown. "Nancy knows and I was sure they would find me guilty of everything."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, though he had his suspicions now.

"We should have told everyone that Morgan is Mark's daughter."

"Morgan is my daughter, because I haven't seen Mark changing her diapers, feeding her or putting her to sleep lately."

Meredith looked down, guilty of the words she had said.

Derek took a deep breath and sat down beside her. "I know. We should have told them. I had started thinking about this very serious lately. So Nancy realized after all."

"You knew she knew?"

"I knew she saw her birthmark."

"You know…" Meredith said quietly. "I don't really feel guilty for not telling them, but it makes me feel like crap the whole situation between you and Mark."

Derek saw her coming back to her self-conviction. He put an arm around her and pulled her to him. "The situation between me and Mark is as it is because of the distance. Do you know how many times we talked while he was in New York and me in Seattle? Probably once a month. Because if the situation was different between me and him I would have went there more often and you and I would have met. We would have met and Morgan would have been my birth child now."

Meredith looked up at him, almost amused with his scenario. "It would have been much easier, wouldn't have?"

Derek smiled and kissed softly her lips. "Not really. I think the actual situation is just a little messed up. That's all. Now let's get back to Morgan because we'll have to go soon."

Meredith nodded and Derek took her hand as they stood up. "I told Nancy you would call her."

"She can wait," and Derek put an end to Meredith's worry and remorse.

Morgan was lying in Claudia's arms, playing together with a teddy bear when Claudia's phone rang. It was Derek, asking her to bring Morgan and Cujo at the hospital. Morgan had just had dinner when Derek called, so she didn't arrive in a very good mood at the hospital.

The rain had stopped at noon and now the evening was fresh, smelling like spring. Claudia took Morgan out of the car, letting Cujo wait inside. She pushed her hat off her forehead and gave her a moment to breathe in the fresh air. Morgan put her finger into her mouth and scrutinized the surroundings while the mild wind did its job and brushed against her forehead. Her tummy hadn't taken very well the car trip, but she seemed to be doing much better now.

"Huh," Morgan made a sound and pointed with her finger to the hospital.

Claudia looked at her, surprised. "What you're saying?"

Morgan looked at her, glanced back at the hospital and then started playing with the hem of her jacket.

"Someone started to know Seattle," Claudia giggled. "Let's go see Mommy and Daddy."

The moment they stepped into the elevator, people started hovering around Morgan. Some of them were hospital staff, already knowing Morgan, wondering of how fast she had grown. Morgan was in a tight place, surrounded by many people, so she didn't take very well the whole attention. Claudia didn't do better either. She tried though to stay polite, but got off before her floor.

"We can take the stairs. It goes perfectly with the diet," said Claudia and quickly looked for the stairwell before anyone else could notice them.

"May I help you?" a young doctor and pink scrubs asked nicely.

Claudia looked around. She was on the Pediatric floor. Not the best place to keep a baby hidden.

"I need to go to the surgical floor."

"Oh. Here's Pediatrics."

Claudia smiled. "I think I noticed that."

The doctor didn't pay attention to Claudia's sarcasm. "Is something wrong?" she asked and frowned with worry as she looked at Morgan.

"She's visiting her parents."

"Oh," the doctor sighed with a relief, but then put on a pitiful smile. "I am sorry. I hope they'll get better."

Claudia fought back a groan. "They will," she smiled and turned around quickly looking for the stairwell.

"The elevators are right over there!" the doctor called after.

Claudia looked at Morgan and whispered, "Doesn't she have anything to do?" then she turned to the doctor. "I am taking the stairs."

"Oh. Ok."

"Ok," Claudia muttered under her breath. "What a weird moment."

Claudia found the stairwell and finally got on the surgical floor.

"Hi, Morgan!" a new round of hello's echoed as they stepped in.

"Morgan!" Claudia recognized Izzie's beaming voice. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked, coming to them. "Come here, cute baby girl," she cooed and took Morgan from Claudia's arms.

Morgan stared at Izzie as if that was the first time she saw her.

"Is she tired?" Izzie noticed her stare also, knowing what usually her stares meant.

"I little groggy after dinner maybe," answered Claudia.

"Aww, you poor baby girl," Izzie cooed and gently kissed one her of her cheeks.

Morgan rubbed against it, fighting to get away.

"What's going on?" Izzie whimpered, not liking Morgan's attitude.

Claudia had to admit that she was surprised too. Usually Morgan showed a lot of thrill with Izzie around.

Morgan started fussing in Izzie's arms. Something was discontenting her and she couldn't tell the grown-ups what that was. She stopped suddenly and started squealing as she looked over Izzie's shoulder.

Everyone turned and saw George with Dr. Bailey.

"I saw you!" George shouted warningly and came laughing to her. He stopped briefly to look back at Dr. Bailey. "Is it ok if I say hi to Morgan?"

Dr. Bailey rolled her eyes, but smiled as she came to Morgan as well.

"Why is she happy to see you?" Izzie protested. "What did you do to her? Morgan," she looked at the baby. "Whatever he told you was a lie."

"Of course she's happy to see me," George huffed, smugly of finding himself on the top of Morgan's favorite people list. "I am her personal Santa. Come here," he took Morgan from Izzie.

"Oh, why don't you keep reaping that when she'll be around 4 or 5 and ruin her childhood," Izzie grumbled. "You're such a dumb-ass."

"Oh and why don't you keep using this word when she'll be able to memorize and pronounce words? I am sure Dr. Shepherd would love being called dumb-ass by his daughter. And it's your new perfume she doesn't stand about you."

"My what?" Izzie gasped, outrage, but Dr. Bailey nodded her head, taking George's side.

Claudia looked at Dr. Bailey and said, "This seems like a weird day at the hospital."

Dr. Bailey chuckled knowingly. "That's what a slow day does to doctors." She glared at her residents. "Give her to me. You two don't know how to behave around a baby. Come here, Morgan," she gently took her into her arms and spoke softly to her. "You and I don't know each other very well. I am Miranda. I work with your mommy and daddy."

"You let her call you by your first name?" George asked.

"She's a baby. Babies are allowed to call me however they want. Except for Grandma. Why aren't they bringing her to the daycare?" Dr. Bailey asked Claudia. "My little Tuck would need a new companion."

"Meredith doesn't want to hear about daycare until she turns 1. I am not sure later what plans she has."

"Wouldn't that be great?" George chuckled shyly. Everyone looked at him, confused. "I mean… Morgan and Tuck. You could hook them up. Dr. Tucker Bailey and Dr. Morgan Grey. Or is it Morgan Grey-Shepherd?" he asked, confused. "But Meredith and Derek are not married yet," he gave the answer also. "Anyway, Grey is enough for a doctor name. Besides, if the little ones get married, Morgan would be Dr. Grey-Shepherd Bailey. Oh my God. The names would do the surgeries. She wouldn't need the hands or the brain."

"And couldn't you give them something to work?" Claudia asked Bailey.

"Wouldn't you like that, Dr. Bailey?" Izzie asked. "I think that would be cute. They would know each other from daycare and they would spend each day of their life together. I think it would be a cute story." Then she bent to Morgan and cooed, "Dr. Morgan Bailey."

Derek and Owen were passing by just then and Derek listened amused to Izzie's fantasy. "Are you planning on opening a dating agency, Izzie?"

"Wouldn't that be cute?" Izzie asked him.

"No," Derek answered frankly and then realized how his answer must have sounded to Dr. Bailey. "Not that I don't like your son. I think he's adorable, but my baby girl is too young for dating."

"I share your pain," Bailey reassured him, but she also elbowed him jokingly, "Derek."

"Yes, of course. We'll see. In the meantime, let her come to her Daddy," and so Morgan was passed again. Just that this time, she got in her happy place. There was no other place like in her Daddy's arms. She spoiled herself a little bit as she rubbed her forehead against his cheek and then she turned her attention to the others. She was ready now to give everyone all the attention they wanted.

Meredith stood aside, down the hall. Derek had just taken Morgan from Bailey when she saw them. There were a lot of people around Morgan and Derek but they were the only she saw.

"Could this day be any worse?" Cristina grumbled as she stopped beside her, leaning against the wall.

"Just look at them," Meredith muttered, her eyes still on Derek and Morgan. "Look how great he is with her. You wouldn't say she's not his birth child. And he's not doing it because she's Mark's. No, he doesn't."

"Owen and I are dating for 3 weeks now and we haven't hit the sheets yet," Cristina had her soul problem as well. "Now I also have to do charts at work. All day."

"Nancy found out about Morgan's father and she's imagining all kind of stuff. She put the whole blame on me."

"I can't be blamed for this," Cristina stated. "I am competent. On so many levels."

They looked at each other as if they noticed each other's presence just then.

"He must have a dysfunction," Meredith heard her friend though. "Support him. Maybe you'll even get to do surgery on him if necessary."

"And you should support your sister-in-law. Maybe she wants to write a book with your story."

Meredith nodded. "I should go to them. Derek's taking us to see the big hole from his land. That's where our house will be."

"Have fun at the hole," Cristina nodded and walked away, in the opposed direction.

----

**N/A: For the next chapter I will skip a few months, so the story time will be around Morgan's first birthday.**


	53. Chapter 53

**N/A:** I know I've been missing for a long time, but now I am back. I hope. Life has turned pretty busy for me and it doesn't leave me much time or energy, but I will try to update more frequently from now on. Actually this weekend I am trying to update most of my fics.

Enjoy this new update with Morgan and Derek.

------

The shock Derek had that morning brought him into a slight state of depression. He knew he had been extremely busy over the last couple of days and Morgan hadn't seen him at all, but was it possible to look at him with curious eyes? That was 'the look' she gave to each stranger she met; it wasn't a proper 'good morning' for her Daddy.

Besides the fact that Morgan didn't squeal or at least smiled at him, Derek was surprised to see what a big girl Morgan was now. She was standing on her own feet already, holding tightly on the edge of the crib. He knew she had started walking with help or holding on the edge of the furniture, but she didn't look steady. His little girl was growing with an incredible speed and he had missed her last progressions.

Derek leaned against the doorframe, folded his arms across his chest and let his disappointment out through a long sigh.

Morgan prattled something and pointed down to Cujo.

"You're not going to put the dog on me, are you, honey bun'?" he chuckled.

Morgan started at the sound of his chuckle. She looked at him with a smile and giggled as she stuffed her fingers into her mouth. How silly of him to think that Morgan could forget her daddy just because she hadn't seen him for a few days.

"Good morning, Morgan," Derek smiled.

She laughed and threw her arm in the air; that was her sign to go to her.

"Come here and let me look at how big you are," said Derek, walking to her crib, with his arms stretched out towards her.

Morgan held her arms up as well, knowing she would be picked up. Once she was in his arms, she pocked his cheeks with her tiny palms and laughed.

"You're hitting Daddy now?" Derek pouted and Morgan kept laughing and pocking him. "I know we haven't spent much time together lately, but you're still Daddy's little honeybun'."

"Huh," Morgan prattled and pointed down to Cujo again.

"Huh you say," he chuckled and turned to look at what she was pointing. "That's Cujo. Can you say Cujo? How about Mommy?" Morgan gave him an innocent look. "Ok. How about Daddy? Can you say Daddy? Da Da?" Morgan started laughing at him. "I guess you can but you don't want to. Yet. Let's get you cleaned."

Derek proceeded with changing her diaper and giving her a clean outfit. Another thing he found strange about her that morning; with her stomach empty, she was getting cranky quickly and almost never stood still and didn't protest while she was changed. This morning she was the best baby in the world. She 'talked' to her Daddy and to Cujo and Derek laughed at the sweet sound of her voice. "Please do it for Daddy," he said to her, bending to look at her face to face. "Say Da-da"

But Morgan shook her head and turned away, trying to crawl away from him.

"Ok, then do it for Cujo," he insisted and picked her up into his arms so she couldn't run away. "Say Da-da. Say it for Cujo."

As if she knew she was being forced to do something, Morgan started frowning and fussing, so Derek gave up quickly, not wanting to ruin her good mood. He took her into his room to see if Mommy was ready with the shower and ready to have a proper family breakfast.

The water had stopped in the bathroom, but Derek could still hear the water splashing in the bathtub. "I guess Mommy's taking her time," he whispered to Morgan. "Let's take some time for ourselves too then. I don't have to be at work until noon and you don't look hungry, so let's spend some time together." That being said, Derek started gathering the stuffed toys Morgan had in her parents' room. He brought all of them to bed and surrounded Morgan with them. For a short while, she picked the teddy bear and a stuffed kitten and shook them. As nothing seemed interesting in them, she left them down and crawled to her daddy. She stepped on his legs and sat down on them, looking up at him with a smile.

Derek wrapped her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "We have only one week left until your first birthday," he talked softly to her. "You know, Morgan, Mommy and I are doctors and this means that we have to work a lot, but we'll always make time for you. Actually," and the idea just struck him. "Next week; the whole week will be about you. We'll spend a lot of time together. We'll go shopping, to the park, and we'll even go to Orcas Island to the beach. It's still summer so we should take advantage and give you a bath in the ocean. What do you say?" He wasn't really expecting an answer from her as she was too busy playing with the hair from his forearm. "Yes, Morgan. Starting tomorrow, we'll give Claudia a break and you'll be spending time with us."

Morgan wriggled out of his arms and crawled down on bed. She sat down and looked at him, starting to laugh. Derek lay on the pillows and watched her with amazement how she was moving from one place to another, trying to sit on her head or roll over, falling back and finding her stuffed toys again. Derek couldn't remember if he had seen Morgan so full of energy as in this morning. She crawled back to her daddy after a while and propped her hands on his knees as she helped herself up. She stood on her feet for a second only before she lost the equilibrium and fell over Derek's stomach.

Derek groaned of pain, but couldn't reproach her anything. He picked her up and sat her on his stomach. "Why don't you stay still a little? Talk to me. Play with me. Just notice me around."

Morgan got on her knees again, causing Derek another wince of pain, and crawled along his body until she fell off beside him. Derek welcomed her, putting an arm around her and hugging her. Morgan started sucking her thumb and Derek just stood holding her until he realized they were almost falling asleep.

"Mommy is sleeping in the bathtub, isn't she?" Derek asked himself and gently stood up. Morgan looked at him with heavy eyes; they were falling back to sleep for sure. "I know I said I wanted a little time together, but let's not spend it sleeping. Come here," he heavily picked her up and sat her on his hip so he could search for his laptop. He was going to combine pleasure with work.

He sat back down on the bed with Morgan on his leg and the laptop in front of them. Morgan looked fine with their activity as she watched him with full interest how he turned it on and pressed all those buttons, making appear all the colorful images on the screen. She waited patiently for him to check his email, but when he was over, she wanted to learn more about the high tech. She leaned forward to the keyboard, whimpering as she couldn't reach to the buttons.

"Do you want to play with it?" Derek chuckled. "Well, this is not for playing, but I could show you some nice stuff." And so he started playing videos for children, animated and colorful.

Morgan had a blast with it, clapping and laughing.

"Now…" Derek typed down, "How about a little of Mary had a little lamb?" He pressed play and the video started playing.

"Derek!" Meredith shouted immediately from the bathroom.

Derek started, expecting Meredith to be napping in the bathtub. He heard the water splashing in the bathtub and she came in the bedroom, all wet and wrapped in a towel.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Mary had a little lamb?" Meredith scowled. She folded her arms against her chest. "What did I tell you about this song?"

"I know. You don't want Morgan to be a 'Mary had a little lamb' type of girl," Derek bubbled sarcastically. "I don't see how she can become one just because she listens to this song. It's ridiculous. And silly."

Meredith gasped at his amusement. "Do not argue with me over this."

Derek just smiled. He put Morgan down on bed and stood up. He walked up to Meredith and ran his finger across her shoulder. "It looks like you could need some help with the towel." His brows wriggled seductively and plastered his best smile on his face.

Meredith giggled. When could she resist to his charm? After all, playing that song wasn't such a terrible thing.

Derek grinned, proud of himself and with one arm around her waist he pulled her into his arms. "You're lazy this morning."

"Me?" Meredith smiled knowingly. "I fed and changed the baby. I let the dog out for a walk and I took my time for a relaxing bath. Who's lazy now?"

"Oh," Derek nodded. "I see now. I thought this was a miraculous morning when everything goes smoothly. The baby is not crying, the dog is not whimpering to go outside."

"Miracles? Not really."

Derek gently stroked her cheek and kissed her. "I am so lazy this morning."

"Yes, you are," Meredith chuckled. "Listen… everyone thinks we should have a birthday party for Morgan."

"Of course," Derek answered. "I thought we didn't have to talk about this."

"Who are we going to invite? She's still a baby. She doesn't have many friends."

"Dr. Bailey can come with her son, Mom and my sister Ashley will come next week and most probably they're bringing some kids with them. And then there are Izzie, George, maybe even Cristina."

"Ok," Meredith accepted reluctantly. "I don't know how to organize the whole thing, but… ok."

"With so many people expecting her first birthday party, I don't think you should worry about its planning."

"I guess you're right." She shrugged. "And by the way, I like your plan for the next week."

"I like it too," Derek laughed.

"What's this sound?" Meredith wondered and as they looked towards Morgan, Derek gasped and ran together to the bed.

Morgan was sitting on the laptop, holding the monitor in her arms and slapping it.

"Morgan, no!" Derek hurried to pick her off the laptop and passed her to her mother.

Started by her father's desperate tone, Morgan frowned and was ready to start whimpering.

"Is it still working?" Meredith asked Derek.

Derek was pressing some buttons, shaking his head. "It froze and the whole display is dark blue."

"Try rebooting it," Meredith suggested.

"I would, if I knew how," he grumbled.

"Well, press the reboot button," Meredith rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"If I just knew which one is it," Derek answered in the same manner and allowed her to perform the action. Meredith bent over the laptop and tried to see which one was the reboot button. Derek grinned knowingly. She wasn't much better at this than he was. Meredith glanced at him with a frown and put Morgan into his arms. She took the laptop then and detached the battery.

"I could have done that too," Derek chuckled mockingly.

"It didn't look like you could," Meredith smiled and reattached the battery. She pressed the power button and took Morgan back.

The system started working again.

"See?" Meredith smirked proudly at Derek.

"Ok," Derek laughed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome and maybe next time you won't let a baby alone with your high tech."

"I won't," he nodded, defeated. "Let's see if I didn't lose anything." And while Derek checked the system, Meredith smiled at Morgan as she carried her outside.

"You got away easy this time because you're just a baby," she told her and giggled as she kissed her cheek. She was at the top of the stairs when she realized she was wearing just a towel, not quite the perfect outfit for breakfast. She walked back in the bedroom, watched by Derek's mocking smile. He turned the computer off and stood up to get Morgan. He leaned to Meredith's cheek as he slid his arms around Morgan and whispered to her ear, "I like your outfit though."

Meredith giggled and elbowed him away. "I am hungry." She faked a frown. "There. You got your morning call for hunger," she added with a smile.

"And as each morning, I am ready to answer the call," he wriggled proudly his brow and walked outside with Morgan in his arms and Cujo on their tail.

Meredith was sitting at the table, with Morgan on her lap, entertaining her with photos from the newspaper; in the meanwhile, Derek prepared the ingredients from scrambled eggs, enchanted by Morgan's cheerful prattle.

"Claudia says we should try and take Morgan to the daycare," Meredith muttered, thoughtful.

Derek glanced back at her from the stove. "She's trying to make time for both, Morgan and her first grandchild," he stated and it was clear that he wanted to be on both sides. "Personally, I don't think it's a bad idea. Morgan needs to get used with other children."

"I know, but she's still a baby. You know how she needs permanent supervision. One second she's here, the next second she's someplace else overturning things."

"Meredith, there aren't many infants at the hospital's daycare. The supervisor can watch her and one or two more."

"I don't know," she still looked reluctant, thoughtfully twisting Morgan's hair around her finger.

Derek put the eggs on plates and brought them to the table. Morgan leaned forward immediately and, as the plate was on the edge of the table, she stuffed her hand in it and pulled it back quickly as the food burned her.

"Here," Derek gave her a piece of bread to keep her distracted from their breakfast.

He also poured some juice into two glasses and took a seat at the table, beside Meredith. "I don't have much to do this morning at work, so we could try and see how Morgan would do at the daycare."

Meredith didn't look convinced at all.

"Just for an hour or two. Claudia and I will be there," he insisted. "At some point you will have to let her go into society. She's needs to be around other children, so she can develop her co-habitation with…"

"Fine," Meredith surrendered. "Just make sure nothing happens to her while she stays there. And for the record, she interacts with other children."

"This will be a nice experience for her."

With that being said, they decided to let Morgan at the hospital's daycare under the close supervision of Claudia.

----

Derek and Claudia had a little trouble finding the daycare. They were both expecting to hear the noise from the hallway, but everywhere was quiet. With a little help from a nurse, they arrived in the front of a door that didn't look much different than the doors from inside the hospital.

Derek gave Claudia a questioning look and she answered with a shrugged. She pushed the door opened and just then they saw the difference. It was a large room, brightly painted and decorated with toys. At that hour only 3 toddlers were there, all three of them older than Morgan.

A young woman spotted and came greeting them with a welcoming smile. "Hi. May I help you with something?"

Derek explained her that they would like to have Morgan spend a little time there and see how she would get along with other children. Sarah, the teacher's name, agreed gladly and started on filling them with details about the daycare. There were always at least 2 teachers on a shift and even more if the hospital staff had to work longer hours.

From the moment Derek walked into the room with her, Morgan studied intensively the room and looked carefully at the woman speaking to her Daddy and Nanny. Only when Derek put her down to a table with the other children, Morgan noticed them.

She stood still on her feet, held by Derek, and watched each of them for a brief moment. The others were still too sleepy or too busy with their toys, so neither of them paid attention to her.

"Come and sit here, Morgan," Sarah told her and pulled out a tiny chair, so Derek could sat her down.

Morgan quickly clung on Derek's cuff. She didn't whimper or asked to be taken back; she just stood there watching the children and their playing, but when Derek tried to free himself, she stirred and looked up at him, whimpering.

"We're here, Morgan," Derek crouched beside her. "Claudia and I are here," he said and pointed out to Claudia.

Morgan looked up at her, glanced at her Daddy then and looked back at the table. Sarah offered her a blue cube and Morgan took it, watching her carefully. She started playing with it, twisting it on all sides, but her attention was still focused on how the others were playing.

Now that Morgan was no longer holding on him, Derek stood up and took a few steps back to see if Morgan would notice his departure. Morgan didn't notice that. Derek started paying attention to the other toddlers just then.

A small boy, probably around 2 year-old, was playing at the table across from Morgan. "Is he Dr. Bailey's son?" he asked Sarah.

"Yes," Sarah nodded. "Dr. Bailey brought him just a minute before you came. He's a really good boy. He shares his toys and doesn't cry much."

Sarah read some interest on Derek's face as she went on telling him more about little Tucker. "Tucker," she bent to the little boy. "Do you want to give Morgan one of your toys?"

The boy looked up at his teacher and then at the little girl across from him. He stood up from his chair and picked up a red duck. He walked around the table and brought the toy to Morgan.

"Baby," he brushed gently his hand over her arm. "Baby," he repeated, more excited as he glanced at his teacher.

"That's right," Sarah smile softly. "She's a baby girl. Her name is Morgan."

Morgan looked at the boy standing beside her. He didn't look appealing to her, but his toy did. She looked at his toy and glanced up him, then back at his toy. As he didn't seem to offer it to her any time soon, Morgan just took it.

"Baby gul," Tucker talked to Morgan now. He patted her on the shoulder and bent to pick up her cube.

Morgan put the duck down and held her hand out at him to receive the cube back. Generously, he gave her back the cube. Morgan bent over the table then and started picking all the toys within her reach.

"That's a common thing at babies," Claudia explained to Derek. "Morgan has no problem sharing her toys as long as she gets to play together."

Indeed, watching more of the interaction between Morgan, Tucker and their toys, Derek saw her reaching for a toy each time Tucker picked it up. But Tucker showed her he was actually playing with her and started showing her all the things he knew to do with the toys. He put the ducks into a small swimming pool, made a small tower out of a few cubes and Morgan helped him all that.

Derek was content with the way Morgan was getting along with Tucker. "I should disappear now and get ready for work," he whispered to Claudia. "Call me if anything happens."

"Don't worry. I think I will step in the back too and see if she notices."

"Ok," he nodded. He stopped in the doorway and gave one last look to his baby girl, very proud of seeing her so friendly with her new friend. He felt more relieved now and he couldn't wait to tell Meredith everything.

After he changed into his scrubs and reached upstairs, his morning became less bright. Passing by Dr. Webber's office, Derek heard him arguing with someone and as he stopped to look, he found out it was Ellis the Chief was arguing with. He wasn't surprised with Ellis' presence there, but he was surprised to see them arguing as he knew they were good old friends.


	54. Chapter 54

Derek felt frozen in that spot, though he wasn't that type of person to eavesdrop just for the sake of gossip; not even when one of those people was his fiancé's mother.

A curious nurse walked by, staring at the scene inside the Chief's office on her way to her work. As Derek met her gaze for a moment, he dared to ask mutually what was going on, but the nurse just shrugged and kept walking away.

"Are you aware of what you're asking?" the Chief asked reproachfully. "It's unethical!"

Ellis hesitated a little before she gave her reply, "It's not quite like that. Please, Richard. I never asked you for a favor."

"Impossible," the Chief shook his head firmly and threw a folder down on his desk. "Maybe…" he paused, giving signs of doubt. "Maybe, if her score would've been low, but it's one of the highest. Too obvious." He kept shaking his head. "Too risky. I love my job just as much as you do. I can't give up on it this way."

Derek watched Ellis turning and falling heavily into a chair. She cradled her head in her hands and that was the first time Derek saw Ellis Grey so defeated. It was too late now not to ask himself what was going on. What score was Richard talking about? Who was that person Ellis was asking favors for? Who was that person they were arguing about?

Despite his curiosity and unanswered question, Derek knew he couldn't just stay there and eavesdrop, but just as he decided to turn around and walked away, he heard Ellis saying his name.

"Derek can have an opinion."

As he looked back at the office, he saw he had been spotted and Ellis was coming out of the office.

"I can't believe you're doing that," the Chief kept arguing from inside.

"Dr. Shepherd," Ellis called solemnly his name as she stood composed in the doorway. "Can you come in for a minute?"

Derek didn't know what to do. He glanced over her shoulder, looking for a hint from Richard, but he was too tormented, fumbling chaotically threw some papers.

Ellis was still waiting in the doorway, so Derek didn't see other choice and followed her inside.

"Is he Derek or Dr. Shepherd?" Richard asked Ellis sarcastically. "Because he can't be Dr. Shepherd. It wouldn't be his business. It's not his business anyway."

"Derek," Ellis said kindly and pointed to the chair beside her.

"Before anything else," Derek cut in. "I recommend you to keep your voice down. I don't know what is about, but I can tell that it's something serious and I am almost sure that you don't want people to find out."

Both of them agreed silently, just then aware of how loud they were.

"What's going…" before Derek could finish his question, Richard threw a folder in front of him.

Derek picked it up, suspiciously eyeing each of them while opening it. The name of Grey caught his attention first and then kept reading all the other information. Confusion took over right away as he read the first name 'Alexandra', parents' name Susan Grey and Thatcher Grey. Just when he saw Thatcher's name, Derek had an idea of what was going on.

He looked up at Richard and Ellis, surprised. He went on reading further and saw that the folder had the admission papers to Seattle Grace surgical fellowship for Alexandra Grey.

"She's… Meredith's sister," he mumbled and looked at Ellis.

"And he wants to allow her to come here," Ellis said, glancing reproachfully at her good old friend.

"She has a good score," Derek pointed out and right away felt Ellis' glare on him. "You don't want her here because of Meredith," he nodded understandingly. "That's quite a situation," he muttered.

"I cannot forbid her to have the test," Richard stated. "If anyone finds out…"

"None will find out," Ellis reassured him and looked at Derek for his approval. Derek slowly nodded his head.

"It's too obvious!" Richard exclaimed exasperatedly when he saw that he had none on his side. He lowered his voice as he added. "It's time to deal with this."

While Richard started pointed his views out over the situation, Ellis started staring at Derek. The first thing Derek thought about when he felt Ellis' stare was Morgan. Now he knew where Morgan inherited the staring thing from.

"Besides, she's coming here to be close to her mother," Richard brought another argument in his favor.

Derek managed to blink out of Ellis' intense stare and looked questioningly at Richard. "Her mother."

"She has cancer. She was admitted here two days ago. I am not sure yet what kind of cancer is and how bad is."

Derek had the first impulse to look at Ellis for her opinion, but he was too afraid of her stare, so he chose to look at Richard as he talked. "I think it's time for all of them to deal with the situation," he concluded and in the same time heard Ellis shifting in her chair. "They can't run and hide from each other forever; not in this kind of situation."

Ellis jumped on her feet and started pacing around, nervous. "I thought you could be trusted."

"And I can," Derek jumped, offended. He stood up and turned to her. "What would you want me to do or say in this situation? I understand Richard's point of view, I understand yours and I also understand this girl's situation. Her mother has cancer while she struggles to make a career in surgery."

"All you have to understand is Meredith's well," Ellis retorted.

Derek shook his head, glaring. "Why did you call me in here? Why did you tell me this? Do you hate me this much?"

Ellis frowned with a shade of guilt on her face. "You're Meredith's fiancé and like… Morgan's father," she replied quietly.

Derek sighed. "Well, this is how I see things. Now please excuse me, I have patients to attend."

He walked to the door, not entirely convinced he wanted to leave before finding out the decision, but then it would be their decision, not his. He stopped in the doorway and said, without looking at Ellis, "Morgan is here. She's down at the daycare with Claudia." He didn't wait for Ellis' answer and walked out.

How was he going to focus now with such information? He had too as just then he was being paged 911 in the ER.

What a wonderful morning he had had at home and what a horrible day he seemed to have at work. All Derek wanted right now is have fewer patients and go home as soon as possible.

He had just told the patient's family about its death and he was heading to the nurses' station to take the patient's chart to fill in the time of death when he saw Claudia sitting in a chair, softly talking to Morgan. He signed the chart and a smile started growing on his face as he headed to his little girl.

Morgan seemed t be sulking in Claudia's arms and just waved her hand up when he saw her Daddy. "What happened?" he asked and took Morgan into his arms.

Claudia smiled and shook her head.

"Are you waiting for long?" Derek asked before Claudia could answer to his first question. He took a seat down beside Claudia and cradled Morgan in his arms.

"We just got here. Well… things were going smoothly with Morgan at the daycare, that until she decided she wanted to build a tower too and that little boy didn't let her."

"Tucker?"

"Yes," Claudia nodded. "Then Morgan got angry, grabbed a toy and hit him in the head with it. Then the drama started."

"What?" Derek chuckled.

"The boy started to cry and Morgan didn't look very happy either."

"But you scolded her for her behavior, right?"

"Of course. She even crawled to him with a toy as sign of peace, but he didn't want to hear. Morgan just shrugged then… well, not an actual shrug," she chuckled. "And went to play with other toys and other children. But there are a few children old enough to understand her behavior and they didn't let her touch their toys."

"Oh Morgan," Derek chuckled and kissed his daughter's pouted cheek. "And Tucker just started to cry? He didn't fight back?"

Claudia lifted her brows, surprised. "Would you have preferred to kick her back?"

"No," Derek laughed. "I mean. He could have fought back. What kind of a guy is he if he cries when a girl hits him?"

"He's a two-year old guy," Claudia pointed out jokingly.

Derek kept laughing and shook his head. "You need to get along with those children, Morgan. You will have to start spending more time with Mommy and Daddy at the hospital, because Claudia won't have so much time for you as he had until now."

"It's a boy, by the way," Claudia smiled.

"Aww, Congratulation!" Derek gave her a hug, which didn't like Morgan so much.

She was crankily fussing in Derek's arms and rubbing her face against his shoulder.

"It will be very helpful if Morgan goes to daycare. This way I can spend the mornings with my daughter-in-law and come at noon and take Morgan and stay with her until you come home."

"It sounds like a good plan," Derek agreed. "When is she due?"

"In 13 weeks and 1 day."

"You mark the days on calendar, don't you?" Derek laughed.

"Can't blame me. I am so excited."

"I imagine."

"I think I should take her home and put her down for a nap."

Derek nodded and kissed Morgan one last time before giving her to Claudia. "She was up very early today."

"How is going? Busy day?"

Derek sighed. "A busy day would make my day a lot better."

Claudia looked at him, confused.

"I found out a secret." He confessed.

"Is your tongue inching?"

Derek chuckled and shook his head. "No. It's just that it's something big and I don't know if I should tell Meredith or not."

"Is it a secret surprise?"

"Not a surprise at all. Or maybe, but not very pleasant.

"It's your call then."

Derek sighed, nodding. "How I wish it wasn't my call."

"If it's something that might warn her about something, then you could tell her. If it's for her well."

Derek just nodded. "Ellis is in town so she might visit you."

"Oh I know. She came to see Morgan at the daycare."

"Ok then." He leaned to Morgan, cupping her head and kissed her. "Sleep well honey bun'."

"I will see you later," Claudia smiled at Derek and turned around, walking away with Morgan.

Derek took a deep breath and watched them stepping into the elevator.

"Is she sick? She looked fine earlier," Ellis stopped behind him.

Derek looked back at her. "She's sleepy. She woke up early this morning."

Ellis nodded in response.

"Meredith needs to find out," he told Ellis. "It won't be easy on her but you should see how much comfort she finds in Morgan. She has her own family now. She can find all the comfort she needs."

Ellis didn't answer in anyway and as the silence between then was growing uncomfortable, Derek asked her, "Are you staying in town for long?"

Ellis lifted a brow at his question.

"I am asking because Morgan's birthday is coming and we're having a small party for her."

Ellis seemed to consider her answer. "I will be there." She nodded at him and headed to the elevators.

Odd genes Ellis and Thatcher were carrying and Derek truly hoped they he wouldn't find any new of them at Meredith or Morgan anymore.


	55. Chapter 55

_New place, new bedroom, new life_

In her hurry of meeting Derek in the main lobby, Meredith put the jacket on and arranged herself as she walked, holding her bag with her teeth and taking her hair out of the jacket.

"Are you trying to teach Cujo a new trick?" Izzie laughed as she walked past her, towards the exit. "Night, Dr. Shepherd!" she called also as she walked past Derek.

"Good night, Izzie," Derek called back and stood up quickly when he saw Meredith coming. He chuckled and hurried to help her with the bag. "You need to have Cujo watch this if you want him to learn it."

Meredith buttoned her jacket and grabbed her bag back, "That wasn't even a joke."

Derek just grinned at her. "You're cranky. Why are you cranky?"

"Because I am tired!" she retorted and rolled her eyes.

Derek sighed loudly so to let her know that he wasn't happy with that.

"Where's your cheer?" Meredith smiled, amused now of the switch of moods.

Derek smiled at her. "I am taking you somewhere. I have a surprise for you, so please don't be that tired."

"Derek," Meredith sighed, obviously not thrilled with his plan. She leaned to him and whispered, "We can have sex in our bed, too."

Derek pulled back a little to look at her and laughed. "We will!" he wanted to reassure her. "Still."

"But Derek, I want to see Morgan," Meredith whimpered.

"And you will. Because we're taking her with us."

"Where?"

"That's the surprise."

They stopped as they reached to Derek's car in the parking lot and Meredith propped against the door to look questioningly at Derek. "Is it far?"

"No, it's not far. Don't worry, we won't waste the evening. Just get in the car."

It was useless of Meredith to make Derek reveal his plans. What he had prepared could not be spoiled just like that and by the time they arrived home, Meredith had gotten tired of trying to find out anything.

Derek took Meredith's hand and walked together to the house. Derek used his key to unlock the door, but as he tried to open it, they found that something was blocking it from opening. Before Derek could turn and look at Meredith, Morgan showed up crawling from behind the door. She sat down and giggled as she watched her parents.

"Morgan!" Derek picked her up, quickly.

"What's going on here?" Meredith asked.

Claudia showed up just then, out of breath and scared. "Oh good," she sighed as she looked at Morgan. "Please don't get mad," she asked Meredith and Derek. "I had her before my eyes one second and the next she was gone. We've played hide and seek all afternoon. I even made some changes in living room. I hope you don't mind, but I had to because she's so full of energy. And fast. And she can crash against furniture and something might…"

"Claudia," Derek smiled reassuringly. "Take a deep breath, please. Everything is fine," he also looked at Meredith for her approval.

Meredith nodded, still too dazzled to think clear and understand what exactly had happened.

Morgan cut in with a cheerful giggle and slapped Derek's cheek. "You didn't give her sugar, did you?" Derek asked the nanny, looking curiously at Morgan's good mood.

"Of course not," she reassured them. "I know this is not an excuse for me and it doesn't take from my responsibilities, but Cujo is a very helpful dog. He senses the trouble and holds Morgan back."

As if he knew he was the subject, Cujo happily wriggled his tail at his masters. Meredith laughed and crouched down to pet him. Morgan watched what her Mommy wanted to do and thought that was fun and she would like a little play with Cujo and Mommy too. She bent over Derek's arms and whimpered to be put down.

"Oh no, missy," Derek pulled back. "You're going to sit nice and spend some time with Daddy."

"And Mommy," Meredith added.

"Of course," he laughed. "Don't worry, Claudia. We know she's safe with you and Cujo," he assured Claudia one more time.

Meredith noticed something in Claudia's features just then. It was a mix of happiness with emotions, something overwhelming. Meredith could tell that something exciting was going on with Claudia. "What is it?" she asked and raised a brow, letting her know that she knew something.

Claudia giggled. "I am going to have a grandson," her voice trembled with emotion as she voiced the words. "I would have been this happy if it were a girl also, of course, it's just the thought that my first grandchild is going to come soon."

"Congratulations," Meredith hugged her.

"Congratulations," Derek congratulated her as well. "Did you hear that, Morgan? You're going to have a new friend to play with and he is going to take good care of you because his parents and his grandma will teach him to do so."

Everyone laughed, including Morgan. Maybe the idea of having a protector was sounding exciting to her, too; he wasn't going to be much younger than her, anyway.

"I should leave now," Claudia said. "My niece is sleeping over, again."

"She's spending a lot of time at your house," Meredith noticed.

Claudia nodded. "She's my sister's youngest child and being at that age when the hormones start waking up, she has a lot of fights with her parents. My sister thinks I can calm her down and knock some sense into her. We weren't this difficult when we were teenagers and my children either."

"Each family has a black sheep," Derek nodded.

"I can't wait for her to change her budge," Claudia sighed. "I am going to get ready now. I made something for dinner. I left it in the refrigerator."

"You didn't have to, but thanks," Derek smiled.

Meredith spent a little time with Morgan, holding her on her feet and helping her walk, while Claudia packed her stuff and Derek packed dinner.

After he had walked Claudia to the door, Derek came in the living room to see if Meredith and Morgan were ready to go. Meredith was still playing with Morgan, bouncing her on her knees and clapping hands together. It was an evening of joy for everyone. Derek smiled, enjoying the view, and leaned against the doorframe, giving them a little more time. To gain some time, he decided to go upstairs and pack some of Morgan's things himself.

Meredith saw Derek coming downstairs with Morgan's bag. "We're going on a trip?" she asked him.

"No, but you're about to find out where we're going if we leave now. Come, Cujo," he called the dog and attached the leash to its collar.

"Did you take everything we need for Morgan? Should I pack too?" Meredith asked Derek.

"Everything is set," Derek reassured her and handed Morgan's bag to Meredith.

Meredith didn't comment more and followed Derek outside. While they drove to their unknown destination, Meredith talked about her interns and their first big exam. She looked for Derek's advices and his opinion about each of them. Derek was pleased with Meredith's concern toward a bunch of interns; that was going to make her a great mom for Morgan. In the meantime, Morgan and Cujo snoozed in the backseat, stopping the prattle and the quick breathing.

As she looked out the window and paid attention to the road for the first time, Meredith recognized the road to Derek's trailer. "We're going to your trailer?" she asked, looking pleasantly surprised.

"We are," he smiled knowingly.

"Yeah," she sighed with content as she leaned back in her seat. "It's been a while since we last were here," she muttered to herself as the bright colors of the twilight sped up along their car.

Derek slowed down as they were getting closer, wanting to watch Meredith's reaction to his surprise.

"Look!" Meredith jumped and pointed out the window as they were approaching to a house. "Someone built a house here. You have neighbors," she laughed.

Derek just smiled and nodded, fighting back the laughter. He slowed down the speed more and pulled the car in that house's driveway.

Meredith turned to him, confused. "Are we here to meet your neighbors?"

"No," he laughed. "What neighbors? We're alone here."

Meredith looked out the windshield to the house and back at Derek. "Then what's with this house?"

"Do you not recognize it?" he asked her.

"No!"

"Not the house," he chuckled. "The place."

Meredith looked outside, but still nothing; a lot of trees and green, she had seen this before, everywhere.

"This is the place where the trailer used to be." Derek helped her.

Meredith stared outside, awed. "You built a house," she muttered.

"Don't tell me you're mad for doing it without your notice, please," he looked concerned.

"No, no," Meredith shook her head. "I am just… surprised. This was unexpected."

Derek smiled. "It shouldn't have been. I told you I was going to build a house for us here."

Meredith turned to look at him, with an expression of awe. "And you did it."

"I did it."

Meredith opened the door and climbed out of the car. She couldn't recognize any tree or spot from that land, but she could recognize one thing. The silence and the peaceful mild wind. Her feet started trailing along the driveway, to the house. She could not believe her eyes. Everything Derek had done and was still doing was her dream home.

Derek walked up behind her and wrapped her into his arms. "It has everything it needs. I also dared to decorate it. Not much, just the furniture. I wanted you and Morgan to have the whole comfort when you would first come to see this. I hope you don't mind."

Meredith giggled and patted his hand. "Picking furniture would have been the last thing on my mind these days."

"I know," he kissed her on the check. "That's why I dared."

Meredith turned to him and put her arms around his neck. "You're a very daring man, I must say."

"I am," he nodded.

"I want to see the inside," she said eagerly, pulling back from his arms. "How many bedrooms does it have?"

"Four," he laughed. "But don't you think we should take Morgan and Cujo first?"

Meredith looked back at the car and saw Cujo looking out the window at them, waiting. "Right," she laughed and ran to take her daughter.

Morgan stirred awake while her Mommy unbuckled her from her car seat.

"I am sorry, Morgan," Meredith spoke softly as she took Morgan out. "But you have to see this." She put her on her hip and walked towards the house.

Derek was waiting for them on the porch with the key in his hand. "Would you like to open it?" he didn't wait for her answer and dropped the key in her hand. "Now you will feel it more like your home."

Derek took Morgan from Meredith and let her unlock the house. The inside was sunken into darkness and being unfamiliar with the place, Derek helped Meredith turn on the lights. The vestibule wasn't much bigger than the one they had in her mother's house and it was indeed decorated with a carpet only. Derek walked ahead, leading their way into the living room; just as big as her mother's as well. Meredith was satisfied with it as she had never wished for a mansion.

While Cujo sniffed each corner, Derek gave Meredith and Morgan a tour of the house. Meredith liked everything about that house; the reasonable space each room should have, the simple furniture and the fact that it looked homey.

"Now please don't get mad," Derek pled as they walked out of their bedroom.

"Derek," Meredith laughed. "I told you, it's ok."

"No," he smiled. "Not just that. I've done something else."

Meredith looked at him, questioning, "How bad is it?"

"It's not bad to me, but I don't know how you will take this," he answered, a little hesitating.

"Derek," Meredith smiled at him. "You're Derek."

"Ok," Derek laughed. "I will dare to show you, then." He shifted Morgan on his hip, put a hand on Meredith's back and led her to the next room, across from theirs.

He let Meredith be the first one to walk in and he followed her closely, turning the lights on.

Meredith looked around at the purple painted room and couldn't realize right away where she was. Just when she saw the white drapes, a rocking chair in a corner and two dolls on a desk, Meredith made an idea of what that room was.

"Morgan's room," she muttered.

"This is just a suggestion of how we could decorate her room," Derek explained. "You can change it if you want to, I promise I won't mind."

But Meredith liked that room as well. "It's not very… Barbie," she nodded with approval. "Most of the girls' rooms are pink."

"I know and I didn't buy any stuffed toys,"

"That would have been worthless. They never play with them," Meredith agreed.

"That's right."

"But still… something is missing," she pointed out.

Derek looked at the room and couldn't figure out what was missing.

"Where is she going to sleep? She's still too little for the bed you bought for her," Meredith laughed.

"Right," Derek laughed too. "I didn't forget, actually. I was thinking we could bring her crib from your mom's house as that was the crib we tried to install."

"I did it!" Meredith pointed out.

"I said, tried," he smiled. "Anyway, she can sleep with us tonight. She doesn't get to sleep with her Mommy and Daddy too often, isn't that right, Morgan?" he asked the girl.

Morgan was looking around at the new place and turned her attention to her parents only when Derek talked to her. She looked at him, at her mommy then, and then rolled her head as she tried to watch the ceiling, from where clouds were hanging.

"You like that?" Derek asked Morgan. "If we pierce the roof, we can have rain too."

Meredith looked at him, not tasting his joke.

"I was just kidding," Derek replied at her looked. He kissed Morgan and gave her to her Mommy. "I am going to heat up the dinner. In the meantime, get familiar with the place."

And so Meredith, Morgan and Cujo did. Meredith liked the surprise, without a doubt, but Cujo was very suspicious with the new place and he ran ahead in each room, sniffing everywhere. After they visited everything upstairs, they went downstairs.

"Can you refresh my email and see if I have any new messages?" Derek called at her as he heard them coming downstairs.

Meredith walked in the living room, where Derek's laptop was on the coffee table and let Morgan go with Cujo and explore the room.

She checked Derek's mail and as nothing new was in the inbox, she left the window open and went to check what else Derek had bought for their house. She saw a small bookcase by the TV and went to take a look. A lot of medical journals, even some of Derek's, were on all shelves.

Meredith took a seat in front of it as she picked a Journal to browse it, but she also made sure she followed Morgan's prattle. When Morgan made the sound of wonder, Meredith knew she had found something interesting to do and she would better look out. As she turned, Meredith saw Morgan standing on her feet, holding on the coffee table.

That was the first time Meredith saw her baby girl standing, outside the crib. She leaned against the bookcase and smiled as she watched Morgan, making one step at the left and one at the right. Being too busy admiring her, Meredith didn't realize what Morgan was trying to do. That morning, she had discovered how exciting the laptop was.

It was too late for Meredith to react in anyway because after Morgan shook the laptop twice, she pulled of it and sent it to the floor, right beside her.

Meredith ran to her, right away and hoped that there wasn't any major damage. She picked the laptop on the floor and put it on the coffee table. Right in that moment, the system died.

"Is everything ok in there?" Derek called from the kitchen.

Meredith took Morgan quickly and sat her on the couch. "Uh… yeah. Everything is ok," but the tremble in her voice betrayed her and Derek came to see what had happened.

"Don't tell me she broke it again," he groaned.

"No!" Meredith shook her head. "I did it this time. I… uh… knocked over it. Sorry," she smiled apologetically.

"Mer," Derek sighed. "Is it still working?"

Meredith bit her lip and shook her head.

"Seriously, Mer, you're not Morgan's age. How could you break it?"

"I wonder myself that," she muttered under her breath through a sigh. Why had she taken the guilt? "I am sorry. I will fix it. I mean, not me, but someone will. I will pay for it. I will even buy you a new one."

Derek looked at her with suspicion. "Dinner is ready," he said and turned to leave.

Meredith looked over at Morgan, who was sitting in the couch watching the grown-ups. She giggled and threw her fists in the air when her Mommy smiled at her. Meredith took her into her arms and gently stroked her cheek. "I won't cover your back all the time."

Meredith found the table already set in the kitchen. "You took care of everything," she noticed Morgan's high chair also and the little bowl for her.

Derek just nodded.

"Are you upset?" Meredith asked him. "I told you I would pay for your laptop. I am sure you didn't lose any information."

Derek looked up at her, surprised with her presumption. "I am not upset, but I am a little worried."

Meredith lifted a brow, questioning.

"You're afraid that I might be a strict father and ground her for any silliness?" he asked Meredith.

Meredith bit her lip, a little troubled with the answer, and shrugged.

Derek opened his mouth in shock. "I will be a cool dad, you'll see. Still, she will receive a ground if she deserves it only, but I don't think she should worry much about that right now."

"That's good, because I don't want her to have strict parents. Strict parents make you do stupid things."

"I know," he smiled and pointed to her.

"That's right," Meredith giggled.

"So who broke the laptop?" he asked.

"She did," Meredith said, lifting Morgan up.

Derek laughed shaking his head and started serving the food while Meredith put Morgan in her highchair.

"Shouldn't you call your mother and tell her not to expect us home tonight?"

"Do you know mom is in town?" Meredith asked, surprised.

"She was at the hospital today."

Meredith nodded and then shook her head. "I don't have to call her. I don't think you noticed, but the last two times she was in Seattle, she didn't sleep home. She sleeps over to a hotel now."

"She is?" Derek asked, surprised. "Why?"

Meredith shrugged and handed Morgan her spoon. "I guess she doesn't feel comfortable with us." She continued as Derek looked more confused. "We're a family now and she knows we need privacy. She doesn't do well with families. Notice my case," she added in the end.

"That's a little strange, I must say, but she can stay to her house as we have our own place now."

Meredith didn't find her mother's choice strange at all, so other issue came into her mind. "Do you think we should fire Claudia?" she asked Derek, surprising him with the question.

"Why?"

"I asked you if we should."

"I got that, but why are you asking me that?"

"Morgan is not allowed to play hide and seek. Claudia is not allowed to let her play. I think she's too old for this job."

"Meredith," Derek smiled. "Morgan plays hide and seek with us, too. Besides, Claudia secured the house and Morgan has Cujo to keep her out of trouble."

"Still," Meredith didn't look convinced. "And I am not so sure about her taking care of two babies at the same time. Do you think it's ok to take her to the daycare from now on?"

"We can try with the daycare. Morgan seemed to like it. But I say we should not hurry with sending Claudia away. You don't want babies, _right away," _he emphasized the ending. "So it will be good for Morgan to grow up close to another baby. Sit down and let's have a nice quiet dinner with Morgan, now. Right, Morgan?"

As they looked over at her, they saw her with her spoon stuffed into her mouth. She pulled it out and threw it on the table, giggling.

Derek stroked her cheek and planted a kiss on her head.

They sat down at the table, with Cujo and his bowl in a corner of the kitchen, and Morgan arguing to eat by herself.

As Derek had set the table, Meredith offered to clean up and Derek held Morgan, keeping her company.

"I heard mom and the Chief had a fight today," Meredith said as she washed the dishes.

Derek briefly closed his eyes and held back the groan. He had forgotten about that and by the way Meredith was glancing at him, he guessed she wanted to see if he knew anything about that.

"Your mom hates me," Derek stated heartedly.

Meredith put the plate down and turned to him.

He hadn't decided what to do with the information that Ellis had generously offered him, but he decided now.

"Your sister is going to start her internship in surgery at Seattle Grace."

Meredith narrowed her eyes, slowly processing. She had an idea of who Derek was talking about. "I don't have any sister."

"Meredith, I am talking about…"

"I know!" she snapped. "But as he's not my father, she's not my sister either." She took a deep breath and added, though not very convincing, "I don't care that she's coming at Seattle Grace. Good for her."

"Her mother was admitted recently to oncology and I think this is the reason why she's coming here," Derek also stated.

That information seemed to have softened Meredith a little. "That sucks for her," she stated, muttering while wiping the dishes.

"It also means that you might see your dad more often," he added. Meredith just shrugged. Derek stood up from the table and came with Morgan to the sink. "Do you want to hold her?"

Meredith looked at her daughter, who was trying to reach to her hair, and brushed her cheek against her tiny hands. "I am fine," she told Derek.

"Ok," he smiled. He still stayed by the sink and played with Morgan, splashing water drops on her face, making her giggle and wanting to catch the drops.

"How come you always come with news about my dad?" Meredith asked, after a while, and that was a good question, actually.

Derek chuckled. "Your mom hates me."

Meredith laughed at that. "She doesn't hate you. You're just unlucky for meeting me and my crap."

"And here we go again," Derek groaned.

"I have a lot of issues," she pointed out.

"Did I ever complain?"

"You just met me." Derek gave her a look of disapproval. "You'd better stick to my crap."

"I might," he smiled. "If you stop saying that word with Morgan around."

"Oh," she giggled and bit her lip guiltily.

Derek shifted Morgan on his hip and surrounded Meredith's waist with his free arm. "Every family has skeletons in its closet. We're just starting ours. Skeleton-free."

Meredith smiled at him, hopeful. "I still don't understand why mom and the Chief argued."

"Because your mom doesn't want him to accept her into this program. She wants to keep her away from you."

Meredith nodded, same as earlier, slowly processing. She turned to wipe the dishes and took in the new information as she did that. "She can't do that. Her mother has cancer."

"I don't think she convinced Richard to do that," Derek reassured her.

Meredith nodded and added through a sigh, "Good. She's not my sister. There will be two of Grey in the hospital, but it shouldn't be that weird. There are a lot of people sharing the last name at the same workplace. Right?"

"That's right," Derek agreed, impressed with Meredith's attitude. Although he knew she would freak at the time being.

While Derek went to take a shower, Meredith walked into her new bedroom to get Morgan ready for bed. She sat down with her and took a deep breath as she scan the new place. Morgan started wriggling in her arms, wanting to crawl away, so Meredith turned her attention on her daughter.

"Sister," she muttered thoughtfully. "She has a sister, but I don't." At this point, Morgan started paying attention to her mother and tried to understand what she was saying. "Yes, Morgan," Meredith nodded at her daughter. "Unfortunately, _sometimes_, life sucks."

Then she looked around her, again; but there she was: new place, new bedroom and new life. She sighed and a smile crept on her face. Her new life was refreshing every day, because Morgan was growing and she had Derek to enjoy all these with. That girl's new life wasn't probably as bright as her childhood used to be.

Meredith sighed, with content for herself and sympathy for that girl, and kissed her daughter once more before putting her pajamas on.


	56. Chapter 56

**N/A: Hi! I hope everyone's having a great Holiday Season!**

_Little person_

It was light outside when Morgan opened her eyes. She rubbed fists against the heavy eyes, threw her legs in the air, stretching them, and looked at her right and at her left where Meredith and Derek were sleeping.

She turned to her mother first and pinched her nose. Meredith chocked her snore for a moment; she rubbed her nose and turned her head away.

Morgan turned to her father then, who had his back turned on her. She reached with her fingers for his hair, but he was too far and she was too lazy to stretch to him, so she gave up. She rolled onto her back again and started prattling with herself about her sleeves, the hem to her pajamas and about a shadow on the ceiling.

Morgan stopped from wriggling and prattling and stood calm and quiet, listening to the silence. She let out a yawn and closed her eyes, having a faint temptation of falling asleep, but Cujo's yawn made her aware of his presence there. Morgan started fussing again and, rolling onto her stomach, she stood up in her seat. She prattled something as she stretched her neck and tried to spot her friend. As Cujo was nowhere in her sight, Morgan started crawling to the edge of the bed, where she hoped she would see him.

Cujo showed up, putting his snout on the bed and watching Morgan. Morgan squealed at the sight of her friend and was more willing to get to him now. As if he sensed she was going to a wrong place, Cujo stepped back and let out a short bark. That held Morgan back for a short while, confused, but she started crawling to him again.

Cujo's bark became more alert and noisy as Morgan was getting closer to the edge of the bed and that stirred the grown-ups from their peaceful sleep, but before they could become aware of what was going on, Morgan reached to the edge of the bed and couldn't stop in time, slipping off the bed and falling down over Cujo.

Morgan started to cry in an instant and Cujo started licking her presumed injuries.

Meredith and Derek were out of bed in no second and Derek reached to her first, scooping her up into his arms, closely checking her for injuries. Besides the scare, nothing else seemed to disturb her, after a first quick check.

"I should have chosen to the bed with footboard," Derek concluded quietly through a sigh.

Meredith agreed, too, silently and sighing with relief as nothing had happened to Morgan.

Cradled in Derek's arms, Morgan started to feel better and her crying became a whimper soon and the whimper a prattle, until she regained her good mood.

Meredith yawned and rubbed her face just then. "He's a hero," she said, pointing to Cujo.

Derek smiled at the dog and nodded. "We're glad we can count on you."

"I am tired," Meredith let out another long yawn and crawled back in bed. "Just a few more minutes," she muttered as she laid back in sheets.

Derek wasn't fresher either and Morgan's wake-up call caused a buzz in his head. He rubbed his cheek against Morgan's and kissed her. "Just a few more minutes, ok?" he tried to convince Morgan.

Fresher than everyone, Morgan just glanced at him with a frown and then started playing with the bracelet from her wrist.

Derek decided to give it a try and go back to bed with Morgan. He laid her between him and Meredith and got them under the blankets.

Morgan rolled to her side, facing him, and stuck her thumb into her mouth as she watched him. Derek took that as Morgan was going to sit nice and eventually fall asleep. He started feeling his eye-lids heavier and drifted to sleep, leaving Morgan unsupervised.

Morgan prattled something as she brushed her tiny hand against Derek's face and then rolled to the other side, to her mother. Meredith had her back turned on them, so she could only grab a few strands of her hair.

Morgan couldn't stay still for long, so after she rolled from one side to another, she decided to stand up and crawl away.

"She's leaving again," Meredith muttered through a sigh, still aware.

Derek groaned muffled into the pillow and slid his arm out and reached for Morgan's leg, grabbing her by the ankle.

Morgan let out a sound of wonder as something stopped her. She fell on her bum and looked at Derek's hand that was holding her back. She looked at his hand, then at him and the end slapped his hand.

Derek smiled to himself and kept snoozing.

As she tried to crawl again and found herself still trapped, Morgan fell down and started whimpering.

Meredith groaned. "Derek, what are you doing to her?" she sighed and rolled over to see what was happening.

Derek woke up just then and let go of Morgan's ankle. He rubbed his eyes and leaned to take Morgan. She didn't like that very much as she had probably spent too much time in that bed, so she started whimpering and fussing in Derek's arms.

"I know, I know," Derek muttered, his voice hoarse, as he laid Morgan onto his arms to cradle her. "It's a beautiful day, too beautiful to be spent it in bed, isn't it?"

Meredith snorted and smiled as she dragged herself out of bed. "She makes you believe any nonsense."

Derek sighed, still sleepy and not as bright and shiny as Morgan, yet. He looked at the baby in his arms that was watching him with questioning eyes.

"No, you're not going to lie there all day," he told her, as if he had answered to her look. He lifted her and put her on his shoulder as he got out of bed. He sat back on the edge of the bed as he watched Meredith sleepily trailing to the closet. Weird, as she always walked in the bathroom first. Derek smiled and winked at Morgan as they watched her in silence as she headed to what she thought it was the bathroom.

Meredith startled a little as she opened the door and met a small room with empty shelves.

"Try at your right. Next door," Derek chuckled.

Meredith hissed sleepily as she changed the track and followed Derek's direction. "Breakfast?" she called from the bathroom.

"That would be nice, but that's the bathroom. Kitchen is downstairs," Derek laughed at her.

He heard her sighing. "You are so not funny today!"

Derek took that as a serious offense. He looked at Morgan and asked, "Am I that bad this morning?"

Morgan didn't seem to be listening at him and let out a sigh, giving Derek some sort of an answer for his question.

"Let's see what we have for breakfast," he told Morgan and carried her outside, followed by Cujo.

Unfortunately, Meredith couldn't stay for breakfast as an early call from her interns sent her straight to the hospital. It was Derek that had to feed and get Morgan ready for another day at the daycare, but he didn't have any trouble doing it as Morgan was still in a great, cooperative mood.

Derek pulled the car into the parking lot and unbuckled his seatbelt. Morgan's prattle stopped as the car stopped and she leaned forward to look out the window. Derek watched her through the rear-view mirror and smiled proudly. She was growing up, every day.

"Let's see what other friends you will make today," he said as he turned to her.

Morgan made a sound of wonder as she looked at him.

"Let's go," he got out of the car and walked around to the trunk, to take Morgan's stroller out.

There were rare the times that Morgan was walked in the stroller and most of those times she was asleep. That was why Morgan clung on Derek's arms when he took her into his arms and wanted to put her down in the stroller.

As she realized what he was doing, Morgan whimpered and started kicking with her legs. That was a serious tantrum, Derek noticed; the very first serious tantrum. He didn't want to give in, so, against her resistance, Derek put her down in the stroller.

Morgan stopped from whimpering and gave herself a moment to study the place she was in. she looked up at Derek and as he started pushing the stroller, her face crumpled and she started to cry.

"Morgan," Derek sighed. He stopped and crouched in front of her. "You're a big girl now. You'll be walking on your feet soon, you have to get off your Daddy's arms," he tried to explain, the best way he could.

Her face turned bright red and her crying more furious. She rolled her hands into fists and looked like she was going to explode.

"Morgan," Derek said softly as he touched her warm cheek with his finger.

Her crying slowed down a little bit and she opened her eyes to look at him, pouted. "Where's bright and shiny Morgan from earlier, huh?"

She kept crying and fussing.

Derek sighed and shook his head. He had never raised a kid before and he hadn't been around his sisters and their kids either, so he felt a little lost at the moment. He didn't know if they had done anything wrong in Morgan's education so far, or what this little tantrum meant.

"Come here," Derek took her out of the stroller and as expected, her crying became a whimper.

He put her down, carefully holding her hands. "Let's see if we can walk until the daycare."

Morgan balanced as she was on her feet, unstable on her tiny, clumsy legs. Derek managed to lead her steps, but she was soon too tired and his back was hurting him as well. Besides, they didn't have that much time either.

He picked her into his arms and smiled as he wiped her cheeks. "Let's try the stroller, ok? You're a big, heavy girl now and sometimes Daddy is too tired and too old to carry you."

Morgan listened to his words, pouted. Her body became rigid as he put her back into the stroller and started whimpering only when she was settled in. She started crying again as Derek pushed the stroller.

"I can see that you have some of Mark's genes," Derek sighed, muttering under his breath. He chose to ignore Morgan's protest and hurried to get inside.

They drew everyone's attention as they crossed the parking lot and reached at the entrance, from there receiving new stares as they headed to the elevators.

Derek tried to smile nonchalantly at the people's stares, while Morgan was getting more and more irritated as she was ignored by her father.

The elevator rang and the doors opened, revealing a couple of people inside.

Derek smiled apologetically and pushed the stroller inside.

Surrounded by so many people, Morgan's crying slowed down again and she looked up, around her, curious at all those people.

A little restless, probably because of the number of people around her, Morgan became agitated and Derek knew that wasn't a tantrum. She was panicking and she needed him. Derek excused himself and pulled the stroller to his side so he could bend to his daughter. He took her hand and smiled at her as she caught him with both hands.

Now that she felt safe, Morgan allowed herself to stare and analyze an old nurse at her right. The nurse noticed her and smiled kindly at the little girl, but she was soon startled at how intense the gaze was.

"Sorry about that," Derek whispered at her. "She's inoffensive."

The nurse chuckled and nodded, but looked away.

They were at the daycare floor now. Derek pushed the stroller outside and took a deep breath, preparing himself for a new Morgan concert. Morgan was just restless this time, fussing from one side to another, just to be able to get out of there.

"Morgan, please stay still," he put a hand on her shoulder.

Morgan pulled her shoulder away and whimpered.

"Morgan!" Derek sighed and chose to ignore Morgan's tantrum, despite the disapproving glares of the others.

"Why did you choose to upset her on such fine morning?" Bailey's chuckle distracted both from their stress.

Morgan stuffed her fingers into her mouth and hiccupped as she looked hopeful at Dr. Bailey.

"She doesn't want to sit still in the stroller," Derek muttered grumpily.

Dr. Bailey, who was carrying her son in her arms, put Tucker down as she approached the stroller. She fumbled behind Morgan and took out the safety belts and showed Derek the reason for Morgan's discomfort.

Derek winced, embarrassed.

"Yes," she nodded reassuringly, "My husband taught me, as well."

Being more comfortable in her stroller now, Morgan giggled and threw her arm towards little Tuck, greeting him.

Tuck whimpered instead of hello and stepped behind his mother's leg.

"Oh Tuck," Bailey chuckled and took her son by the hand to bring him in front of Morgan. "You don't have to play shy. She's just a little girl."

Morgan cheerfully clapped her hands at him and Tucker frowned, treating her with cold frowns.

"He's friendlier most of the times," Bailey tried to excuse him.

Derek chuckled as he knew the reason for Tuck's cold attitude toward Morgan. He knew a few things about men's ego, no matter the age, and apparently, little Tucker couldn't forget and forgive the fact that Morgan had hit him with a toy.

"And she's not this intimidating all the time," Derek laughed.

"She's not intimidating at all," Bailey cooed at her. "She's adorable."

Morgan giggled and stuffed her fingers into her mouth again; leaning back in the stroller, she fixed an intense stare on Dr. Bailey, showing how adorable and intimidating she could be at the same time.

Bailey narrowed her eyes and tried to hold her stare; there was no other person in that hospital that could stare out better than her.

Morgan kept staring back and giggled as she had finally found a person able to stare back as intense at her.

"I like her!" Bailey beamed and stood up laughing. "She has a strong personality. She's a great little person."

"I am not marrying her to your son," Derek stated.

"What?" she laughed, taking all as a joke, but as she looked at Derek, she saw how serious he was about that. "Why wouldn't you?"

"How can I? He gets scared of her just because she hit him with a toy."

"She hit him?"

"With a toy," he pointed out in Morgan's defense. "She needs someone just as strong as her. Someone to take care of her in need."

Bailey raised her brow and folded her arms against her chest. "You haven't met what my son can do, yet."

"I don't want to know. Honestly," Derek smiled, misreading the meaning of her words.

Dr. Bailey chuckled. "We're acting childishly here. They're just babies, still."

"I am sending her to Harvard." Derek said.

"I am sending him to Stanford," she said.

Derek nodded. "We'll introduce them to each other after they graduate college. We'll make a decision then."

"I agree," she nodded.

"Anything to have her in your family, huh?" Derek grinned as he turned the stroller around to go to the daycare.

"Like you wouldn't want him," she huffed and headed with her son towards the same direction.

"They'll have to live in the same town with us," Derek stated. "We'll have to find them good jobs here. I will be too old to fly across the country to visit my grandchildren. I want to grandchildren."

"Me too. Are 2 enough?"

"Reasonable," he nodded.

"Does Meredith have any word in this?" Bailey asked.

Derek shrugged. "I am the father, but I will talk to her, too."

"Your concern toward her is heart-warming, but you should give her some independence. I can see you choosing her boyfriends, already. You're seriously taking this role," she stated and approved discreetly with a nod.

"I birthed her so, I am doing my best."

Bailey chuckled and shook her head. "You keep bragging with that, though you're a doctor and you know that's not the correct term for…"

"Why women can accept my explanation and play along?" Derek groaned. "You're sucking all our pride and ego out of us."

"And you haven't met all of us. Just wait another 16 years," she nodded knowingly at Morgan.

Morgan was just 1-year old, so Derek refused to have such worries, so early. He had plenty of time to worry and figure out the solutions. Little Tucker could be a great back-up plan, in his opinion.

-----

Because the patio was too crowded with curious people that kept staring at them and distract Morgan from her lunch, Meredith took their food and went upstairs to find a quiet office where she could have lunch with her baby girl.

Morgan sat on her mother's lap and cheerfully nipped from a piece of carrot while her mother watched her.

"Look who's here!" Izzie's beam managed to distract Morgan, who laughed and waved a hand in the air as greeting. "We're having lunch in 903," she told Meredith as she made her way to the desk.

"I think we're good here." Meredith shook her head.

"Right," Izzie chuckled. "How's our birthday girl doing?" she cooed at Morgan, gently pinching her cheek. "Eating carrots for a tanner skin?"

"She likes carrots. This is her second, today," Meredith nodded.

"Aww," Izzie laughed and kept on pinching Morgan's cheeks, which eventually frowned and shoved Izzie's hand away with a whimper.

Morgan glanced up at Izzie through a frown while she held carefully the piece of carrot.

"It's not her birthday, yet," Meredith pointed out. "And she doesn't like to be pinched too much."

"I think I noticed that," she laughed and drew her hand back as her first instinct was to pinch her again. "She lost her cheeks."

"Someone stole them," Meredith giggled. "People kept pinching her," and slapped Izzie's hand as she said that.

"Right," Izzie leaned back in her chair. "So, what have you planned for her birthday party?"

"What birthday party?"

"Morgan's," Izzie rolled her eyes and frowned at Meredith's confusion. "She will have a birthday party for her first anniversary, right?"

Meredith looked troubled. She shrugged, confused. "I guess."

"Mer," Izzie shook her head disapprovingly. "She needs a birthday party. I will help you with it. We need to start the lists."

"The lists? For her first anniversary? I don't want to announce her engagement!"

Izzie smiled calmly. "We need location, guests and menu."

"Location, Derek's place; guests, you; menu, food. Done. See? No list."

Izzie dismissed her with a shake from her hand. She stood up and bent over, placing a kiss on Morgan's head. "I will get in touch with you later," she told Meredith and turned around, leaving them alone, again.

"And I bet you don't even want a party," Meredith sighed, kissing the top of her head.


	57. Chapter 57

It was finally Meredith's turn to finish her shift early and go pick Morgan from the daycare. After she changed in her street clothes and left a few instructions to her interns, she went downstairs, where the daycare was. She found the place noisy as children of all ages were chatting, crying or running around.

Meredith was taken back a little by that chaos and wondered how her baby girl could survive in the small jungle.

"Dr. Grey," one of the teachers recognized her and came greeting her. "Most of them didn't want to nap at noon, but they will collapse soon. They're running out of energy," she explained the situation as Meredith looked surprised.

"Morgan?" Meredith asked.

"Morgan was safe," Mrs. Henson reassured her. "She was very funny today. You should have seen her running after a friend," she added with a chuckle.

Meredith frowned, not liking what she was hearing.

"Not humiliatingly," the teacher added quickly as she saw her expression. "It seemed that little Tuck didn't forgive her for hitting him with a toy, but she insisted. Wherever he was going, she was after him and in the end he caved and now they're playing together. Dr. Grey is with her now," she said in the end as she saw that Meredith wasn't finding any of those, funny.

Meredith turned, surprised to the teacher, "My mother?"

"Yes," she nodded and motioned to the corner, where Ellis was sitting to a table with Morgan and little Tuck, smiling as she watched them playing.

"How long has she been here?" Meredith asked.

"Half an hour I think," she answered.

Meredith stared at the teacher, dumbfounded and as Mrs. Henson started to feel uncomfortable, she smiled and walked away to attend other children. Meredith shook her head and decided to look so surprised. She was visiting her granddaughter, after all and that was just a little bit unusual. She walked to the table where Ellis was sitting with Morgan and Tuck, and cleared her throat, having everyone's attention.

"Meredith," Ellis greeted her with a brief smile.

"Mom," Meredith nodded. "Hey, Morgan," she crouched down in front of the table, smiling at Morgan. Morgan smiled at her mother and threw her hand in the air before she looked back at Tuck and watched him building a tower out of blocks.

"They put her into a walker; you haven't bought her one, have you?" Ellis asked her.

"No," she answered.

"I ordered one and they will deliver it later. I was going to leave earlier if you couldn't be there to receive it," Ellis said. She paused and looked up at her daughter. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I…" Meredith shook her head. "I don't. It's just that we moved," she stated. "Not yet, I mean. Uhm… but we will, soon."

"Meredith," Ellis sighed disapprovingly and Meredith knew why. "Talk coherently."

"Yeah," Meredith cleared her throat and smiled. "So… I heard you've been sitting here with her for a while."

"Yes. I was also waiting for you," Ellis stated.

"Ok. I am here now."

Ellis stood up and looked away, a little uncomfortable with what she had to say. "I'd like to spend the day with Morgan, tomorrow."

That was surprising indeed. Besides a few hours, which most of them Morgan slept, Ellis hadn't spent much time alone with Morgan.

"Why?" Meredith couldn't hide her astonishment.

Ellis smiled understandingly. "Because I will leave to Europe after her birthday and…" she looked a little uncomfortable, "I want to spend a little more time with her. She's my only granddaughter."

Her trouble as she said that impressed Meredith so much that it almost made her giggle inside. She wouldn't have been even more adorable if she had blushed a little. "Ok," she agreed.

"Ok," Ellis smiled. "I might stop by tonight."

Meredith looked, confused. "Stop by? I have to give you the address."

"Meredith, I lived there for years, I think I know…" Ellis understood the misunderstanding, then. "You didn't notice that I don't sleep there anymore."

Meredith narrowed her eyes, trying to understand what she was saying. "I think… yeah," she noticed. "I haven't you seen you home lately."

"Good to know that I am missed," Ellis smiled, nodding her head. "And no, I have no affair."

"I didn't even think about an affair," Meredith smiled. "Still…"

"I live to a hotel."

"Why?"

"Ugh," Ellis groaned. "Because I am a grown-up and I can afford," and because you need privacy, Ellis couldn't say it, but Meredith easily guessed it. "Alright," she cleared her throat, ready to get past that awkward moment. "Can I come and stay with Morgan tomorrow?"

"Yes. We'll be at your place, I think. Morgan doesn't have a crib to Derek's place."

"You're moving to a new place," Ellis concluded, sounding a little disappointed as well.

"Yes. Well, Derek built it for us."

"Of course," Ellis nodded. "Ok, then," she bent to pick her jacket and purse off the chair and watched Morgan with a smile, before she stood up. "Have you changed your mind about… that girl?" she asked Meredith. "I think you should let me take…"

"You don't have to," Meredith didn't let her finish. "I don't want to feel guilty later."

"You have no reason to feel guilty."

"I do, because I know it wouldn't be fair to her and… she's… just a girl."

Ellis sighed and nodded at Meredith. "As you wish."

Meredith nodded.

"Goodbye, Meredith."

"Bye, mom."

Ellis looked back at Morgan one last time before she left.

Meredith crouched at Morgan's table and smiled as she watched her trying to stuff a block into the right space. "A day with grandma, huh? What's gotten into her?"

Morgan prattled something as she insisted to stuff the block in its right spot, and startled as the block slid inside and disappeared out of her hands. She made a sound of wonder, looking up at her mommy, and bent over the toy to see where her block had gone. She giggled, throwing her hands in the air, and picked up another block to solve the puzzle, while Meredith took a seat and let her finish her play before taking her home.

---

Meredith had sent Derek a message, letting him know that she and Morgan would be at her mother's house, so as he finished his last surgery and no other patient requested his attention, Derek left home.

From the driveway, he could hear Meredith's laughter. Derek gathered his things from the car and then locked it before hurrying into the house. He heard Meredith and Morgan in living room, both of them giggling. His presence into the house was observed by Cujo only, who came greeting him.

"Are you having a party without me, boy?" he patted the dog on his head.

"Derek?" Meredith called from the living room.

Derek disposed his things in a chair and went to see what was going on with his girls. He stopped at the entrance, laughing as he saw Morgan's struggles to walk in the walker.

"Look who's walking," Meredith looked at him, laughing.

Derek walked to his daughter, leaving a proper distance between them, and crouched, calling her to him. "Come to Daddy, Morgan."

Morgan giggled at him and shook her head, before she started moving her legs, taking successfully a short turn to him. She stopped only when she hit his knees, holding her hands out to him.

"Come here," Derek took her out and hugged her. "I didn't think about buying one," he admitted to Meredith.

"Me neither," Meredith giggled and answered as Derek looked questioningly at her. "Mom did. She bought this one."

"Nice," Derek nodded impressed. "You'll be able to run soon, too," he told Morgan and gave her a kiss before putting her back down.

Morgan slapped the colorful toys that decorated the board, playing with them a little and Derek turned her around, pushing her to move along.

"She spent a little time with her today at daycare," Meredith told Derek.

"That's good," he nodded. He walked up to Meredith and kissed her. "Anyone can see how fond Ellis Grey is of her granddaughter."

"Yes and that's quite impressive," Meredith laughed. "And even more impressive is the fact that she's willing to spend the whole day with her, tomorrow."

Derek chuckled and shook his head, becoming suddenly serious. "She can't tomorrow."

"Why not?"

"Because I was supposed to spend the day with her tomorrow, remember?"

Meredith shook her head as no.

Derek groaned and shook his head. "I planned everything to have the day off tomorrow."

"Then you can spend the day with…"

"No," Derek guessed what she was going to say. "I like your mom as doctor only; as mother-in-law… I don't know. What if she starts criticizing every little thing that Morgan and I do?"

"Derek," Meredith sighed. "Why are you so difficult?"

"Me?" he asked, indignant with her question. "I had to…"

"Derek, take it or leave it," she told him and turned to leave the room. "Morgan hasn't eaten her dinner, yet."

Derek sighed with disappointment. He didn't feel like arguing because he knew she was right. Sometimes, when it came to Morgan, he could be a little selfish. As he wanted to turn around and see what Morgan was doing, Morgan crashed with the walked against his legs.

"Oww," he whimpered and started jumping in one foot towards the couch.

Morgan frowned, watching her daddy, as if she knew she had hurt him. "Ugh…" she whimpered as she leaned over the walker's board, for her daddy to take her.

Derek rubbed intensely the spot that Morgan had hit with the walker and as the pain started to fade, he smiled at Morgan and went to take her. He returned on the couch with Morgan on his lap and chuckled as he started bouncing her on his knees. "Why didn't you tell mommy we had plans tomorrow?"

Morgan looked questioningly at him and stuck her fingers into her mouth, adopting her sweetest face.

Derek gave her a hug and kissed her, standing up with her in his arms and going to the kitchen.

"Please, Mer."

"Derek," Meredith sighed and turned to him. "You didn't make any plans with her tomorrow. You planned it today at noon and…"

"But I did plan it…"

"Derek," Meredith raised her hand, silencing him. She walked up to him and took Morgan from his arms. She put her in her highchair and told Derek, "I am sure that your patients will be more than glad to hear that they can have the stress off their shoulders the same day as you first scheduled them. You know how weird my mom is and is weird enough that she wants to spend the whole day with Morgan, so please do not argue with her over this. Or with me. I will have the day off the day after tomorrow so we can spend the day with Morgan together, so you'd better stop whining and go walk the dog. Or you can just go to your room, scream and throw as much as you want, and just then come back downstairs and talk to me."

Derek wasn't sure when he had stopped understanding what Meredith was saying. He got the main clue though and understood it was pointless to argue with her. He felt a little humiliated by the part where, apparently, Meredith had sent him into his room. As Meredith kept watching him and folded her arms against her chest, Derek decided to suck it up and go walk Cujo.

Meredith smiled at Morgan, once Derek was out of kitchen. "Did he really believe he would scare me? Huh," she chuckled. "I do have to admit that I am a little nervous about your day with grandma. No reason to panic, though. She's a grown, responsible, serious woman." Meredith tried to reassure Morgan, although she was trying to reassure herself.


	58. Chapter 58

"Does she have an affair? Is this why she wants to spend the day with Morgan?"

Meredith couldn't hold the groan at Derek's question. "You'd better pay attention to the road instead of bugging me with this."

"Because," Derek glanced at her. "If she has and she's using Morgan to look nice in front of men…" he paused as he couldn't find a serious threat.

"What are you going to do?" Meredith giggled.

"I am going to be very pissed. No one is allowed to use Morgan for flirting with people. Not even I do it."

"Of course you're not," Meredith slapped over his arm. "Because you're engaged. Derek, please stop with this. She just wants to spend the day with Morgan. I don't know. She wants to get to know her better. Maybe she feels remorse for the lame mother she was in the past and she wants to make it up through Morgan. I don't know," she sighed and looked out her window, restless.

Derek had sensed since last night that Meredith was nervous about this day. "We can check up on them at noon. Or we can call Claudia to pay them a visit later."

Meredith looked at him, smiling thankfully. "We could call Claudia. It's not that I don't trust my mom," she added quickly. "It's just… she doesn't have much experience with babies and Morgan is not used to her. Besides, she's too proud to call for help."

Derek nodded approvingly while Meredith asked him, "Is it weird?"

"That she wants to spend a little time with her granddaughter? I don't think it's weird. It's just bad timing. I know I overreacted yesterday; I just don't like when people or job interfere in our family time."

Meredith smiled at him. "So you weren't selfish yesterday. You were thinking about me, as well."

Derek smiled and nodded, subtly letting her know what she knew already; when it came to Morgan, Derek was selfish. He knew he had to start planning some time alone with Meredith, too, after Morgan's birthday. Maybe he was selfish, but he wasn't proud of it. He looked for her hand, intertwined their fingers and brought her hand to his lips, kissing it.

"Do you know what I am worried about the most?" said Derek. "About Cujo."

Meredith nodded. "I didn't think about him." she sighed and looked out her window. "Now I have two things on my mind. Oh!" she turned to Derek as she remembered something. "Izzie thinks we should have a birthday party for Morgan."

"And we will," Derek stated as if that was already established.

"But Derek, she doesn't have friends. Who are we going to invite to her party."

"Of course she has friends," Derek rolled his eyes dramatically. "Little Tuck Bailey; I have a special sympathy for this kid," he needed to mention. "Then it's that cop's kid from the park and… other kids from the daycare. Then we can invite Izzie, George, they are all Morgan's friends and Morgan loves them. Besides, imagine all the presents she will receive from these two."

Meredith giggled at Derek's blab. "Ok, so we're going to have a party."

"With cakes, balloons and clowns."

"No clowns," Meredith shook her head. "And we have to ask Claudia's help with the cake. This will be her first sugar cake."

"My mom wants to come too for Morgan's birthday, so we'll have extra help. Maybe she brings a cousin or two with her…"

Meredith smiled just picturing what Derek was saying. She liked Morgan's cousins, although they could be really stressing for Morgan, and she liked Derek's mom, too.

"We should start buying things for her party. We need a list; that's what Izzie said."

Derek chuckled at Meredith's enthusiasm. "What are you going to get her for her birthday?"

Meredith bit her lip and shrugged. "You?"

"I have no idea," he admitted.

"Me neither," she sighed. "She has everything. Toys of all sorts, clothes and thanks to you she has jewelries too… what could we buy her for her first birthday. It has to be something special."

Derek shrugged and remained thoughtful as he kept driving. "Special day out with her parents?" he asked.

"Is it enough?" she looked unconvinced.

Derek shrugged again. "We'll see. It's not like she's going to be disappointed if we don't come with the present right away."

"You wouldn't let Morgan without a present for her birthday," Meredith knew better.

"I wouldn't, but I might if I don't come up with something good. Can you believe it's been a year since we met, already?"

Meredith shook her head smiling. "It will be easier with the presents when she gets older," she stated. "We can buy her cars, trips and…" she stopped as she noticed Derek's disapproving stare. "What?"

"I am not going to spoil her…"

"Right," Meredith retorted sarcastically. "She's waving an expensive bracelet at her wrist and she was just a few months old when she received it. From you."

"That was just one present. We won't buy her any car. Didn't you see how she drives the walker? I have both legs bruised because of her."

Meredith laughed at his frown. "You say that now," she muttered under her breath, loud enough though for Derek to hear her.

"Let's live the present, ok?" Derek suggested. "Let me worry about her presents, later."

Although it had sounded like a threat, Meredith knew she had no reasons to worry for Morgan's future. Derek could become a terrible father, but he would also be the greatest.

The silence fell between them for a while as Derek paid attention to the road and Meredith sunk into her thoughts.

She stirred and looked at Derek. "What were you going to do today with Morgan?"

Derek just glanced in her direction and shrugged. "Nothing special. We would have spent the day together. I would have taken to the park, to a ferryboat ride…" he shrugged again as he hadn't made a plan indeed.

Meredith frowned at him. "Then why all the drama? I thought we ruined a serious plan, like… a trip to Disneyland or…" she became quiet as an idea struck her. "Disneyland, Derek!" she turned to Derek, excited. "We can take her to Disneyland!"

Derek chuckled at her excitement. "Or rather, take you to Disneyland?" he laughed mockingly.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Admit it, it's a good idea."

"It is," he agreed. "But not for this birthday as her birthday is in a few days only and we haven't booked anything. Besides, she wouldn't enjoy it that much now. Later, when she'll be older."

"Oh so this was your plan for her teenage birthdays," she smiled and shook her head, disapproving him.

"That was not," Derek frowned. "I have no plan for those birthdays and you know what?" he said with determination. "We're going to Disneyland tomorrow."

"Derek, I got it. You're right. Disneyland is not for this birthday."

"No, it is!" Derek nodded and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he baked a plan. "I will book a flight for tomorrow morning. Maybe we can take the day after tomorrow off, too. What do you say?"

Meredith stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I mean it, Mer," he stated. "We can take to Disneyland for her birthday, every year. It will be like a tradition."

Meredith found herself giggling at the idea of doing something out of ordinary with Derek with Morgan, because an unplanned trip to Disneyland could be considered out of ordinary looking through their daily schedule.

"So?" he asked. "Did I convince you?"

Meredith bit her lip not to laugh and nodded her head.

"Great then," Derek beamed, slapping the steering wheel. "I found the right present for Morgan."

"I did!" Meredith retorted. "I came up with the idea."

"You made an assumption of…"

"Derek, I came up with the idea first. You convinced me to go, so we have the share the present. We'll share the cost of this trip."

"Fair," Derek nodded.

"Good," Meredith nodded, content and leaned in her seat.

By the time they made a few plans for the next day, they were already in the hospital parking lot. A new day was about to start and so they had to leave all the worries and personal problems aside, for a while only, and focus on their job.

"Derek," Meredith smiled, walking up to Derek and pressing her body against his.

Derek chuckled as he knew what that meant. "What do you need?"

Meredith didn't bother to act and smiled at him. "A favour."

"Obviously," he nodded.

"I want you to… spend a little time with my interns. Tutor them a little. When you have time," she said quickly as she didn't want him to feel pressured. "But try to do it today, ok? Please?"

"Who's going to tutor them tomorrow?" he asked suspiciously.

Meredith waved her hand aimlessly. "Dr. Webber."

Derek's eyes grew wide as he heard that. "How did you convince _him_? Did you purr beside him like you've just done with me?"

"No!" Meredith gasped offended. "I purr at you only. I swear."

"Alright," he laughed. "I believe you, but still…"

"I used the right words," she shrugged.

"Huh?" Derek looked confused. "You're not good at words," he pointed out.

"Sometimes I am," she replied. She leaned her side against his arm and walked her fingers along it, "I am just not using this… _gift_, so often. I don't like to abuse it."

Derek put his arm around her and squeezed her at his side. "I guess you are good at words." He squeezed her a little tighter, "When you want." He let his arm fell from her shoulders and took her hand instead. "There's one thing I want you to stop doing."

"Which is?"

"Stop using your gift to order me; especially with Morgan around, or other people around. It's bad for my ego. And for my authority. "

Meredith titled her head to him and kissed him. "Your ego is safe with me."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I am not that sure about that."

---

Meredith was giving her interns a few last details regarding their patients during the night shift, when Izzie stopped beside her, elbowing her cheerfully.

"I heard you decided to go for a party," Izzie beamed. "Can I help?"

"You can help," Meredith couldn't do anything else but giggle at Izzie's excitement.

"Themed party? Barbie like?"

Meredith stopped from what she was doing and looked a little puzzled. "I am not sure Morgan will like it. I don't know if she's a Barbie type of girl."

"She's going to be what you want her to be. Ohh!" Izzie gasped with excitement as another idea struck her. "Little Mermaid! Yes! I like it!" she squealed in excitement and just then turned to hear Meredith's opinion. "What do you say?"

"I guess," Meredith shrugged. She had to admit that Little Mermaid sounded better than Barbie. "But I think it will be enough just a simple party; with a few friends."

Izzie made a slight grimace as she didn't share Meredith's opinion.

"I had a Malibu Barbie theme party," they heard one of Meredith's interns whispering to another. "That was the best birthday party ever."

"I adopted that theme at my 16th birthday," the other bragged.

Meredith and Izzie looked at each other, amused.

"Are we that old?" Meredith asked her.

Izzie laughed and nodded disappointingly. "We're living through our children and grandchildren now," she stated wisely.

"Why don't you get pregnant?" Meredith asked her.

Izzie smiled shyly. "It's not that simple," she said and nodded as Meredith was about to reply. "I mean… the afterwards. You need a stable relationship and a strong career…" she stopped as she realized that what she was saying was opposed from what Meredith had done. "I guess I should start considering it… after I get a nice place for living."

"You can play with Morgan while you get everything ready," Meredith nodded sympathetically.

"Thank you," Izzie chuckled. "So?"

"I don't know," Meredith shook her head. "I will have to ask Derek, too. I guess a themed party sounds nice."

"Great then," Izzie patted her shoulder. "Can I have Derek's email address?"

"Why?" Meredith frowned. "Do you need to chat privately with him?"

"Jealous a little?" Izzie lifted her brows.

"Just disturbed," Meredith smiled sarcastically.

Izzie laughed and gave up. "I will take notes at work then."

"As everyone else does," Meredith waved her hands, pointing to her interns. "You!" she called for their attention. "I will be gone for 2 days so don't screw things up around here!"

"Have fun, Dr. Grey!" one of them smiled reassuringly.

"Two days?" Izzie wondered. "What's your plan?"

"We're going to Disneyland, in California, tomorrow."

"What?" Izzie almost whimpered. "Please take me with you," she barely muttered.

Meredith looked amused.

"Seriously," Izzie insisted.

"I will baby sit with Morgan when you and Derek need to be alone, I will change her diapers and … I will even pack your bags. And unpack them!"

"Izzie, slow down," Meredith tried to calm her down. "You can't come."

"I will even pay my ticket! All my tickets. You don't have to buy me anything."

"Iz," Meredith sighed. "Derek wants this to be a family trip."

"But you don't," she pointed out.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Derek wants this."

"Mer!" Izzie begged.

"What do I want?" Derek asked as he approached them.

"Can I come with you?" Izzie quickly hung on Derek's arm. "Please, say I can."

"Come where?" Derek asked her and also looked at Meredith.

"Disneyland," Meredith sighed.

"You can't…"

"Please!" Izzie still insisted.

"Ugh!" Meredith groaned. "If Morgan will become like you, you can adopt her."

Izzie laughed. She sighed and looked disappointed. "I am sorry. I overreacted. It's just that I want so much to go to Disneyland and see the cartoon characters," she admitted, with less excitement in her voice, this time.

Derek and Meredith looked at each other and neither of them could believe they were put in such a difficult position. They believed Izzie when she said she wished to see Disneyland, her excitement could not be exaggerated or fake, but they weren't sure they wanted her in _this_ trip.

"When is your birthday, Iz?" Derek asked.

That surprised Izzie a little. "It was two months ago."

"Oh," he nodded pitifully.

"I can wait until next year," Izzie shrugged.

Derek chuckled and nodded. "Thank you for your understanding. We'll bring souvenirs."

"That's a must," Izzie pointed out. "Ok, I will leave you now. Have fun."

"Good night, Izzie," Meredith smiled.

As Izzie took off, Meredith turned to Derek. "I almost feel sorry for her."

"Me too."

"I didn't get to ask you…" she remembered. "Have you been home?"

"No…" he wanted to explain the reason, but Meredith's phone started to ring.

Meredith saw Claudia's number and suddenly became panicked. "Claudia, hi."

"Hello, Meredith."

"Is everything alright with Morgan?"

"I guess," Claudia answered.

"You guess?!"

"I went this morning to take Cujo out and Morgan was playing, Ellis was with her in the living room. Everything was quiet and seemed alright with them."

"And no one has checked on them since morning?" Meredith argued.

"Mer," Derek made her aware of her tone.

"Meredith, don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Claudia asked. "She's a grown woman. She's your mother."

"It doesn't matter," Meredith shook her head, nervous. "Why did you call then?"

"I wanted to see if you're going to be late. Ellis doesn't take Cujo out and he has needs."

"Derek and I are heading home just now," Meredith said, calmer now. "Thank you. We'll take care of him when we get home."

"Alright. Good night,"

"Good night," Meredith replied and was about to hang up when Derek looked at her as she had some apologizes to add. "Claudia?"

"Yes, Meredith,"

"And I am sorry for earlier. I guess I am tired."

"I guess you are," Claudia said, and the smile could be heard in her voice. "Do you want me to come over, tomorrow?"

"No. We're going on a trip for 2 days."

"Oh, that sounds nice. Have fun!"

"Thank you. Goodbye."

Meredith hung up the phone and sighed, looking at Derek. "We need to get home."

Derek nodded. "Let's go," and they hurried outside.

**N/A: I chose not to write about Ellis' day with Morgan. First of all, because Ellis is a difficult character to write (I do like challenges though) and secondly, because I'd like everyone to just imagine how their day was, as Meredith and Derek will do, asking themselves. **


	59. Chapter 59

**_n/a:_ I finally managed to bring this chapter to an end. I had a little trouble writing about Disneyland as I never was there. Don't ask why I decided to make them have this trip; I do things like this, sometimes. I hope it came out well. Enjoy!**

**-----**

The alarmed blared at 5 a.m., filling the room with deafening noise. Their bodies started moving under the blankets, groaning and too tired to wake up at that hour.

Derek slipped a hand out and slapped the alarm clock, reducing it to silence. Meredith sighed loudly beside him and soon her snore followed. Derek rolled against her back, hugging her. In that moment, he decided to cancel all the plans for Disneyland. They would lose the money spent on ticket, but he didn't care. Their sleep was priceless. He sunk his face in her hair and slowly started to drift to sleep.

---

Morgan stood in Minnie's arms, watching her with big curious eyes as Minnie walked through a crowd, waving at people. Derek was surprised how nice she settled in that character's arms and didn't cry. It was known that Morgan didn't like strangers very much, especially strangers with big heads and ears.

Derek couldn't stop snapping pictures.

"Look, Derek," Meredith laughed, grabbing his arm to have his attention as she pointed towards Morgan. "She's waving, too."

Derek laughed, too. "She's a celebrity already."

---

Derek kept laughing until he his abs hurt and his bladder was ready to explode. He snapped out of his dream and woke up, like landed from another planet. He looked around the dark room, with Meredith still sleeping beside him and the red flashing lights of the clock showing 5:15.

Now he was awake and they had to go to Disneyland so that Morgan would meet Minnie. He shook Meredith's arm. "Wake up, Mer. It's late." To his surprise, Meredith didn't protest, asking for more sleep. It seemed that she was as excited about this trip as he thought she was. "I am taking a quick shower."

Meredith nodded and slowly pushed the quilt away. "Coffee," she muttered.

The luggage had been packed since the previous night and all they had to do in the morning was to get dressed, drink their coffee and prepare Morgan a bottle.

Meredith couldn't found out more from her mother about Morgan's day with her. It could be that Morgan had a blast with Ellis, considering her bright mood and her deep sleep in the morning, as Meredith dressed her and she didn't even flinch.

They made it to the airport in record time and so they allowed themselves to eat something before boarding. Everything seemed to look smoothly until Morgan started stretching into her stroller. Meredith rocked it slowly, hoping she would rock Morgan back to sleep, also, but as Morgan opened her eyes, they knew it was useless.

Finding herself in a different place from her crib, Morgan started to fuss and whimper. Meredith took her out and put her on her lap, and Morgan leaned sleepily against her chest, sucking her thumb and looking curiously around their table.

"I am not sure that it was a good idea to travel with an infant for so many hours," Meredith sighed worryingly as she fed Morgan. She stopped suddenly and put the fork down. "I shouldn't have fed her. Right?"

"Meredith, don't worry. Of course you have to feed her. We cannot let her starve until we get to the hotel. She'll do fine. Just look at her, how excited she is," Derek chuckled and they watched Morgan sucking the rest of the yoghurt off her hands.

Soon they were in the plane. Meredith chose to sit with Morgan, while Derek had a seat behind them. While Meredith buckled her in, Morgan looked curiously around her, at the window beside her and the tight place between chairs; but she was calm. Meredith gave her a stuffed bunny to play with and so she was distracted for a short while from what was about to come.

Everything was going smoothly. People were boarding in time, Morgan was playing with her toy and the plane was due to take off on a sunny day, perfect for flying.

"Here we go," Meredith heard Derek muttering to himself in the backseat. That didn't help her nerves much. She leaned closer to Morgan and watched her as the engines started.

Morgan startled a little when the airplane started to shake and stopped from playing to look up at her mommy, questioning.

"That's ok, Morgan," Meredith giggled, hoping Morgan wouldn't feel her panic. "We're having fun in the airplane, aren't we?"

Morgan made a sound of wonder. She couldn't quite understand where the fun was, but if her mommy was saying so. She picked her toy and the speed made her lean back against the chair. She was calm, Meredith noticed.

Once the shake stopped and they were up in the air, Meredith could sigh with relief. Too soon though as just then the pressure started hurting their ears, including Morgan's.

Morgan let the toy fell off her hands and started crying and slapping her ears at that horrible pain.

"That's ok, Morgan," Meredith unbuckled her and wanted to take her into her arms. She looked for the pacifier and tried to give it to Morgan, but Morgan spit it up, refusing it.

"Oh great!" One of the passengers next to their seat groaned. Meredith looked toward him with a glare. "Hey, lady!" he said to Meredith. "Do you really have to travel with your kid after you?"

Meredith turned her torso to look at him better. She was dumbfounded. "I guess I do have to travel her with her, which I don't think it happened to you. You were left alone in the basement when your parents were going on vacation, weren't you?"

The man rolled his eyes. "There should be some age limits when flying with the airplane. No offense, but it's inhuman to torture her like this. Let her grow a little bit."

"Oh," Meredith retorted sarcastically. "Do you think it would hurt her less?"

"No, but I think she will cry less," he retorted.

Meredith folded her arms across her chest and, with her back on Morgan, leaned against her seat. "You're one of those crybabies that whimper when they see the doctor. You are, aren't you?" she smiled maliciously.

It looked like she had touched a sensitive spot as the man turned bright red of fury and embarrassment.

"Buy a ticket to the first class if you don't want to travel with a baby," Meredith huffed.

"You buy one," he retorted.

"Why? You can't afford it?" Meredith snickered. "I think I will buy 1st class tickets only, from now on, while you'll be travelling with babies. Lots of babies. I hope you'll be surrounded by babies when you fly back."

In all this time, neither of them raised the voice, but they were talking loud enough for almost half of plane to hear them. At first, the passengers listened, outraged by the man's reaction, and then amused by Meredith's answers. Derek was one of the passengers. At first, he was determined to stand up and hit that man, but then, when he saw how well Meredith was handling the situation, he decided to let her solve the problem. Besides that, Morgan stopped from crying the moment her Mommy started arguing with that man.

Derek patted Meredith on the shoulder to make her stop from mocking as that man was no longer listening to her, having the headphones in his ears.

"I will switch the ticket with a 1st class one," Derek reassured her.

Meredith laughed at him. "And despair the rich people. We'd better find good lines to use for the next flight."

As they looked at Morgan, they found her pinching her toy and prattling something, nervous.

"Maybe she's repeating what you've told that guy," Derek chuckled.

Meredith laughed, just imagining how Morgan could start arguing with people when she or Derek would do it.

Morgan played nice during the whole flight and started snoozing when the cab drove them to the hotel.

Because Morgan fell asleep, there was nothing else for Meredith and Derek to do than get in bed with her and take a nap. The nap turned into a good sleep for the grown-ups, but baby Morgan was already used to waking up and sitting alone.

She rolled from one side to another, chewed her blanket, slapped Derek's head, grabbed Meredith's nose, until she got bored of all those. She wanted to crawl away, but her parents seemed to have learned her habits, and both kept their arms over her body, pressing each time she moved. She started wriggling her legs and fussing and soon she was crying, stirring both of her parents and leaving them no other option but wake up.

---

They knew Morgan would have a great day there, from the moment they stepped into the park and they saw the joy on Morgan's face as she felt the good mood around her. Everything was bright and happy around, so any child would feel the greatness of such moment.

Meredith and Derek were sure they wouldn't have time to visit the whole park and they didn't know where to start from, either. It took them a while to decide where to start at.

"Toontown," Derek suggested.

Meredith made a face. "And see all those cartoon cartoons as big as me, waving and hugging me? No. Let's check Fantasyland."

"Meredith we're not here for you."

"We're not here for you, either," she sniffed childishly.

Both of them looked at Morgan, as if looking for her opinion. Morgan was in her own world, getting the fun she knew by playing with a toy. The place looked exciting, indeed, but she was soon bored of the entrance.

"Fine," Derek agreed. "Fantasyland."

Meredith grinned proudly. "You push the stroller and I lead."

Derek rolled his eyes, but obeyed to her commands.

"Pixie Hollow," Meredith read from her brochure. "Do you think she'd like that?" she asked Derek.

"I would," Derek answered.

Meredith stared at him for a moment. "I am sure you would," she mumbled. "Let's go there."

The whole setting changed completely and they stepped for real into a land of fantasy as everything started to grow bigger than them.

Morgan looked awed around her. From her stroller, she felt even shorter than she was, already. Meredith took her out of the stroller and held her in her arms, for a better view over the scenery.

"There's a fairy," Derek pointed to a redhead fairy.

"They're tall," Meredith noticed. "Fairies are short creatures, right?"

Derek looked at her, amused. "They're not that tall. You are short," he snickered.

Meredith elbowed him, laughing. They walked along the pathway and both of them looked mesmerized at the fairy sized houses and the bronze statues. Soon they could spot a mushroom shaped house, different from the rest of the houses.

"That must be the main house," Meredith mused.

"I think so, too," Derek agreed. "What's her name? Is the sexy blonde one, with a really short dress, right?" he asked her.

Meredith started to laugh. "You mean Tinkerbell?"

Derek smiled, nodding a little embarrassed. "You're a fan?"

Meredith looked at him and shook her head with disapproval. "It's says in the brochure. 'Sexy blonde one?'" she slapped his arm playfully.

Morgan let out a squeal, startling her parents with her sudden reaction, and struggled in Meredith's arms to be able to have a better look over something. They followed her gaze and saw what had captivated her; a few colorful flowers and mushroom.

"Let's take a picture," Derek suggested.

After a few shots, they moved to take photos at a statue and so on, until a fairy came greeting them. "Hello and welcome to Fairy Hollow," she smiled nicely.

She took Morgan's hand and shook it lightly, which Morgan didn't mind much. She watched her closely, but to her she was just another pretty lady happy to see a baby. She led them to Tinkerbell's house to meet her and also take pictures.

They wandered around for a little while and then they decided to take a ride through 'It's a small world.' From there, Meredith decided she wanted to meet Chip and Dale in Toontown and so on, to meet a few other cartoon characters. The whole trip seemed more for Meredith's amusement as Morgan was too little to enjoy everything around her and Derek had seen them before.

It was getting late and Morgan started to fuss.

"We haven't seen much of the park," Meredith stated with regret, when they decided it was time to leave.

"We have one more day," Derek comforted her. "And then next year, maybe we'll stay longer. We need to go and eat something, now. We can come back for the fireworks afterward."

"Ok," Meredith agreed, half-heartedly, just like a kid. Derek took her hand and leaned in for a peck. "Can we stop here?" she asked, suddenly excited as they walked past the Disney store.

Derek looked down at Morgan, who was fussing in her stroller. Morgan was visibly tired; staying in the flashlights of the camera the whole afternoon could be pretty exhausting; besides that, he was sure she must be hungry, as well as he was. But on the other hand, a little shopping from Disneyland was required.

"We have time tomorrow," he tried to convince her.

"I'll just take a look."

"Do you have any idea how big it is?" Derek smiled to her naïve excitement.

Meredith sighed and rose her hands to her sides, agreeing. She walked along Derek and the stroller and Derek could tell she was unhappy by her silence and by the way she was trailing her feet.

"Meredith," Derek stopped. "You're worse than a child."

"What did I do?" she argued.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Go back. We'll wait at the diner."

A smile crept on Meredith's face. "I will be quick."

"You'd better." He looked through his pockets and took out his wallet. Suddenly he changed his mind. "Better not, this time. You're going to look, only."

"I don't need your credit card," she replied. She crouched in front of the stroller to kiss Morgan and then stood up and kissed Derek. "Call me to tell me what restaurant you're at and what to order for me. I will be quick."

---

Derek was getting impatient with any minute that passed by and Meredith didn't show up. Morgan was long asleep in her stroller and Meredith's food, cold in the plate. He checked his watch and was about to call her for the tenth time to ask her where she was, when he saw her coming, making herself room through the tables, because of the bags she was carrying.

"I was in hell," she muttered, tired as she took a seat at the table. "Aw, she's asleep, already," she was sorry to find Morgan sleeping.

"She ate, so she fell asleep. She didn't have much to do while she stood here and waited," Derek retorted grumpily.

"Derek," Meredith pled apologetically. "It was horrible. I had no fun."

"I can see that," he pointed to her bags.

"I didn't," she tried to convince him. "There were so many things impossible to ignore. What size are you wearing at your clothes?" she asked, changing briefly the subject.

"Why? You bought me something?" he asked ironically.

Meredith smiled cutely. "A Goofy costume. You can wear it for Halloween. I also bought one for Morgan. A Chip 'n Dale costume. Now I am not sure which one of the two squirrels she will be."

"And let me guess. You bought Snow White for you."

"No. I couldn't decide."

"I will decide for you," Derek reassured her. "Eat."

"I am starving," she groaned and stab the fork into the plate.

"So what exactly did you buy?" he asked, peeking in one of the bags.

"I am not sure. A lot things," she answered, mouth full.

"Eat slowly," he asked her.

"It's getting too cold."

"No really? I wonder why."

Meredith rolled her eyes to his sarcasm.

"I bet you'd have bought more if you had more than 2 hands."

"I had a few things shipped home," she admitted quietly.

Derek's mouth remained open. He stared at her, bewildered. Meredith wasn't a shopaholic, so he was shocked with the impact that Disneyland had on her.

"Are you going to open a Disney shop in Seattle?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "You're not funny."

Derek nodded, admitting that. "But you are," he stated, smiling. He didn't ask more question as he didn't want her to choke. He took one of the bags and looked inside at the things she had bought. In that one, Meredith had pajamas and clothes for Morgan.

After Meredith was done with her dinner, it was time for them to head to the hotel. They wanted to see the fireworks, but as Morgan was sleeping so peacefully, it was better to let her get rest. Besides that, they were pretty tired, too.

"Derek," Meredith turned to him, smiling, while they were in the elevator, going to their floor.

Derek looked at her, smiling.

"You're the best daddy in the whole wide world," she told him.

Derek laughed, "For you or for Morgan?"

"For both," she smiled.

Derek nodded and leaned in for a kiss. "I am doing my best."


	60. Chapter 60

_**N/A: **I know! I managed to wrap my creativity around this fic and finish the update. I am leaving on a small vacation for a few days, but hopefully I'll get some inet connection and post more. I am not sure how many people will check on this update, but for those who didn't forget it, the story picks up from family's trip to Disneyland. Enjoy!_

"Derek! Derek!" Meredith's panicked voice whispered as she shook Derek awake.

Alarmed by the panic in her voice, Derek opened his eyes and stood up. Sleepily he looked around the hotel room. Everything looked ok to him; it was quiet and Morgan was sleeping between them. He looked at Meredith, questioning.

"It's noon, Derek," she told him, using her normal voice now. "We slept too long."

Derek picked his watched and checked the time. It was around 12, indeed. "I was tired," he admitted, while stretching his body.

"Me, too," Meredith sighed.

They looked between them, down at Morgan and smiled at each other.

"She, too," Derek chuckled.

Meredith laughed approvingly. "She loved the parade yesterday, but I think it was a little too much for her."

Derek lifted his pillow and rested his back against it. "I would stay here all day, today," he admitted.

"I don't feel like going to the park, either." She rested against her pillow and they both watched Morgan as she fussed from one side to another. "She's going to wake up soon," she said.

"And she'll ask us what are we going to do today," he looked at Meredith for suggestions.

Meredith just shrugged her shoulders. "I would stay in, too, but I don't think she will agree with it."

Thoughtful, Derek nodded his head. "First, let's order breakfast."

"Or some lunch," Meredith laughed.

Her parents fuss and voices didn't let Morgan sleep for too long. She opened her eyes, facing Derek. She held up her hand to him and prattled something quietly.

"Good morning to you, too," Derek smiled as he shook her hand.

Morgan turned onto her back and stretched her body, yawning. She looked at her right, where her mother was. As Meredith smiled down at her, Morgan turned around and crawled to her mommy's stomach. It seemed that Morgan needed a little leisure today, as well.

Derek turned the TV on and switched to a cartoon channel, having immediately Morgan's attention; he distracted her also from the hunger that was going to hit her little stomach soon.

Breakfast arrived and was served and then everyone got dressed. They still didn't have a plan, but they were going to go outside anyway. The weather was sunny, too great to be spent indoors.

Downstairs in the lobby, Derek thought to ask at the front desk about a suggestion for their free time. The man looked at him, surprised. "You're in Disney World. We have an itinerary, which might help you choose a park for your family."

Derek was already shaking his head. "I was thinking about something less crowded."

The man looked disapprovingly at him. "In this case, Disney isn't the right idea. You could go to the beach or…"

"To the beach!" that thrilled Derek. "Thank you," he waved at him and went back to Meredith and Morgan.

"To the beach," he told them.

Meredith thought about that for a moment and it didn't sound bad. "But we don't have bathing suits."

"She doesn't need," he looked at Morgan, "and we can buy everything we need. Let's go."

The beach was a less crowded place, indeed. It was noon already, but the sun was gentle, making the weather perfect for a little time to the beach.

Derek knelt in front of the stroller and smiled at Morgan. She stared at him and started to giggle and throw her fists at him. She looked lovely in her Minnie dress and shoes, and just one little accessory was missing to make her look even lovelier. Guessing Derek's thoughts, Meredith took out a little pair of sunglasses.

"It's time to hit the beach, girlie!" Derek beamed as he carefully put the glasses to her eyes.

Meredith made a face at him. "Stop talking like that to her," she laughed.

"Why?"

"Because it's creepy."

With something heavy on her nose, shadowing her sight, Morgan didn't feel very comfortable and started to slap them.

"No! No!" Derek quickly held her hands. "You're going to leave stains on them. Just a few pics and then you can take them off. Mer," he looked at her for a little help with Morgan, while he took out his camera.

When Meredith put her sunglasses on and knelt beside Morgan's stroller, Morgan stopped from fussing and stared at her mommy. She had never seen her with black eyes before.

Her moment of awe allowed Derek to take a few pics of Morgan and Meredith.

"Ok now," Meredith took off Morgan's glasses. "We're here to enjoy the water. Right, Morgan?" She took off Morgan's sandals and then unstrapped her from the stroller.

Derek was ready to take over and gave Morgan a walk on the beach, but Meredith was already carrying Morgan. "Take the stroller," he asked him as he remained behind, staring at her.

"But…" he said pitifully.

"I know," she smirked, looking back at him. "Take the stroller and let's find a spot to settle."

Derek sighed. He hurried to take the stroller and catch up with Meredith's step.

Morgan was sitting quietly in Meredith's arms, now and then fussing as she turned to see everything around her. That part of the beach was still quiet and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore had Morgan's attention; then her head jerked up as a seagull squealed on the sky, above them. Morgan followed it with her sight until the seagull was too far for her eyes, and then she looked back at the water.

"Uh…" she pointed to the water and looked at her mother, as if she was showing it to her.

Meredith took her hand and kissed it. "Let's take a closer look."

"She might like the water," Derek noticed. He left the stroller on the beach, took the bag and walked to the shore, where Meredith and Morgan were already. "We'll have to pay for swimming lessons. When do you think we should start?"

Meredith just smiled at him. Morgan's first swimming lessons weren't a priority in that moment, because Morgan was struggling in Meredith's arms, now that she held her so close to the water. Her tiny fists clutched on mommy's shirt and paid close attention to each of her movements. She was older now since her first visit to the beach, so she was more aware of the things going on around her.

"Aww…" Derek whimpered, expressing his disappointment.

Meredith let out a groan and turned to him with a glare. "She's my daughter too. Do you have to be the one doing everything with her for the first time?"

Derek just sniffed and didn't dare to argue, because that would have been very silly of him as grown-up.

Morgan was in complete awe. She was giggling, whimpering, all at the same time, curious with what she had around her.

After they set their things, Derek ran into the water for a bath and Meredith stayed with Morgan on the beach, pouring the sunscreen lotion. Meredith was playing in the sand with Morgan when Derek came running out of the water. He stopped beside them and started shaking his hair, spraying water all over them.

"Derek!" Meredith protested when the cold drops hit her hot skin.

Morgan would have protested too, for sure, if she could talk, because she let out a strange whimper and she was glaring up at her father.

"You're going to fry here," Derek laughed, picking Morgan up.

She pulled back a little, when she felt his wet, cold skin.

"And you have sand all over you," he kissed Morgan. "I am taking her into the water," he stated. "Are you staying here?"

"And miss all the fun?" she got up quickly.

Derek was the one carrying Morgan into the water.

"Be careful," Meredith warned him.

Derek rolled his eyes. It was useless to warn him of something he knew already; but Meredith was like that and he couldn't argue because she was a mother.

Morgan didn't like the first contact with the water, but as soon as she got used to the temperature, her parents showed her how to have fun in the water. Besides, there were the waves, making her giggle each time they swung her. She was definitely having a blast at the beach and she would have agreed with her parents if she could, that this short vacation was the best birthday gift. When time came to take her out of the water, Morgan started fussing in Derek's arms.

Derek carried her on the shore, where Meredith was waiting for her with a towel. Morgan started to whimper, pointing back to the water.

"I think you had enough for now," Derek chuckled. "Let's get warm a little."

Morgan wouldn't stop, so they had to find something quickly to distract her from the water. Derek started gathering sand around her, covering her feet. That seemed to help a little, because slowly she was getting interested in her new toy, the sand.

When Morgan wasn't paying attention, Derek ran back into the water, leaving Meredith with her. Meredith didn't complain about it. One of the best things in having a child was that she could be a child too, without anyone considering her crazy. She had an awesome time building castles out of sand, tunnels and imaginary cakes, with her daughter.

The place they had chosen to stay on was a quiet one; couples of all ages were walking down the shore, single people or now and then, a chatty group of friends. A man was out with his dog, throwing a stick into the water for the dog to bring it back. When the dog let out a bark, talking to its master, Morgan suddenly looked up. She looked around and her gaze immediately stopped on the dog.

"That's a dog. Like Cujo," Meredith told her daughter.

Morgan looked at her and then back at the spot where the dog and its master were. She held her arm up and then pointed toward them.

"Kuko," she muttered, almost incomprehensible. She turned her torso around and pointed to the dog. "Kuko!" she squealed.

Meredith was staring at her, like frozen. She could not believe her ears. She must have been looking bad because Derek came running out of the water when he saw her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, kneeling before Morgan.

Morgan pulled back, wincing when cold drops splashed on her. At the same time, Meredith was still staring at her daughter; she had her heard her voice for the first time, saying a real word, though it wasn't quite correct.

"Mer?" Derek insisted.

"She just said her first word," Meredith muttered, in disbelief.

Derek stared at her. "Are you sure?" Meredith nodded at him. "Because you've been sitting in the sun for a while and… you look tired."

"I know what I heard," Meredith glared. "She said 'Kuko'."

"Kuko?"

"From Cujo," she pointed out. "Because of that dog over there," she said, looking towards the dog and its master.

The dog let out another bark, having Morgan's attention, again. This time, she got on her knees, wanting to go to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Derek picked her up. "That's not our dog."

Morgan didn't like that very much. She started whimpering and fussing in Derek's arms. "Ku-ko," she was slowly starting to cry.

Derek stared at her, now believing her.

"I know," Meredith sighed. She wasn't disappointed because of the scene she was about to make; it was because her first name had to be a dog's name and not 'mama' or 'dada'.

"You cannot go, Morgan," Derek tried to calm her down. "That's not our dog. We don't know it."

But Morgan was convinced that was her dog and she couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to go to her Cujo. Then the crying started for real.

"Please don't cry," Derek started bouncing her slowly, in a poor attempt of calming her down. But harder he was trying to make her stop crying, louder she was getting.

The dog had stopped from its walk and it was now looking at them, at the little girl in particular. Meredith stood up when she saw the dog running towards them.

"Don't worry! He's not going to hurt anyone!" The dog's owner called at them, running after his dog.

The dog cautiously stopped one foot away from Derek, wriggling his tail, looking at him and Morgan as if he wanted to make new buddies.

"He's great with infants," the man explained. "I have four grandchildren and they spent the summers with me and Monk."

"Monk?" Derek asked, confused.

The man chuckled. "I don't even remember his real name. My oldest granddaughter named him like this after her name, Monika. Don't worry, you can let her play with him for a little while. I can see she's familiar with dogs."

"She has one at home," Derek explained. He put Morgan down on the sand and stepped back a little so Monk could come closer.

They watched as the dog sniffed Morgan all over, making her giggle. Then he cheerfully jumped back, wanting to play with her. Morgan was on her knees again, wanting to go after him, but it seemed like the dog knew how to play with infants, indeed, as he came back to her, sniffing her and pushing her with his nose. Morgan loved it.

"Matthew Broder," the man introduced himself to Derek and Meredith.

"Derek Shepherd," he shook his hand. "And this is my fiancé, Meredith."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled kindly. "She safe with him. Really," he felt like he needed to reassure them, misinterpreting Meredith's silence.

Derek guessed his thoughts and hurried to clarify, "She just said her first word. And it wasn't 'mommy' or 'daddy'."

"Oh," Matthew seemed to have understood the problem. "It's not uncommon. Especially when they grow up together," he explained.

Meredith felt a little bit more comforted after Matthew told them everything about the relation that bonds children and dogs.

It was getting late for Matthew and Monk, and it was a little late for Morgan, too, so they decided to tell the farewells. Morgan couldn't accept that so easily, but she didn't have any choice when she couldn't fight back. By the time they arrived at the hotel, the water and sun had worn Morgan out. After she would wake up from her nap, they would start working harder on the words they wanted to hear from Morgan.

And so their weekend ended, bringing the family back in Seattle, tired, but content with the quality time they had spent together. After this short vacation, it was party time.


	61. Chapter 61

Meredith didn't know what should preoccupy her more, today; her daughter's first birthday party or the list with her next set of interns. She was trying to focus more on Morgan's birthday, because that was more pleasant and probably less stressful. She didn't have much to do for it, though, because there were helps at home, already organizing everything.

A smile was brightening her face each time she thought about her daughter's first birthday, but that wouldn't less long because she was wondering if she would have to teach her father's daughter for the next year.

"Dr. Grey?" She turned around and found her interns. They were smiling uncomfortably and one of them as holding a wrapped present.

Meredith smiled questioningly at them.

"This is for Morgan," Dr. Jacobsen was the one to hand Meredith the present.

"You… bought my daughter a birthday present?" Meredith asked suspiciously.

"Well, we kind of saw her growing up in her first year," she said, still holding the present out to Meredith.

Meredith hesitated a little, but took it in the end. "Thank you," she told them visibly surprised.

"Our pleasure," one of them answered.

"You're still not invited to the party," Meredith told them.

"That's fine," they laughed. "We know we don't have the age."

"And you're not going to get surgeries either," Meredith told them.

One by one started to frown.

Meredith laughed, shaking her head with disapproval. "Ok, look… you have less than 48 hours until the exam. Me, as your teacher, I am telling you that your surgical skills are just fine. You should worry more about the basic, so… cover the pit for the next 36 hours," she told them.

"What? But everyone's…"

"You're not everyone," Meredith cut them off. "You'll be all by yourself so all the great cases will go through your hands. All kind of cases. Do not screw up or I'll be very pissed."

The interns didn't take that very well.

"Trust me," Meredith told them, as reassurances and threat at the same time. "Go!" she insisted when they were still standing there.

Dr. Jacobsen stayed behind, for a few private words with Meredith. "We appreciate everything you've done for us throughout this year." Without waiting Meredith's response, she smiled and walked away.

That was touching and Meredith felt bright on the inside. She felt like a proud mother.

"Dr. Grey!" The Chief was calling her.

Cristina was right behind him with a strange look on her face. Both of them were holding a paper in their hands and Meredith felt chills down her spine. Her mother must have helped her somehow and not have to deal with her father's daughter too much.

"These are your interns," Dr. Webber told her, handing her the paper. As if he had read her thoughts and added in a quieter tone, "I couldn't have put you in a difficult position," and that was a reassurance that her father's daughter wasn't on her list. "They'll start in 5 days."

As the Chief left, Cristina approached. "Do you want me to kill her and make it look like an accident?"

"You have her?"

"She's all mine."

Meredith sighed. Giving her to Cristina wasn't far enough. "I am trying not to hate her, because she has nothing to do with my daddy issue, but… I will definitely hate her when I see her."

"Well… decide which feelings you want to hold for her and I'll support you," Cristina reassured her.

Meredith looked at her. "I'm curious how your inside looks like. Are you really a human or you're some Japanese robot sent to replace doctors in hospitals?"

Cristina smirked at her, "Probably you'll never know."

"I think I don't want to know." Meredith nodded. "You're coming later on, I hope."

"I spent something on the present, so I'd better drink to cover the costs."

"You bought her a present?" Meredith grinned, acting impressed. It was impressive actually. "What did you get her?"

Cristina just smirked. "What's that? Bribe from your interns?"

"They're nice. Everyone likes Morgan."

"Especially when they are about to take their first exam as doctors."

"As long as it comes with presents for Morgan…," Meredith shrugged.

"Ok, then we'll deal with Little Grey in a few days," Cristina stated.

"In a few days? You've changed your mind about tonight, already?"

"That's Junior Grey," Cristina said, pointing to Meredith's present. "This is Little Grey," she pointed to the paper, "Big Grey," pointing to Meredith.

Meredith stared, speechless.

"I bet you can't wait to change your name after you marry Shepherd."

"Now, I can't wait," Meredith approved with a nod.

"I'd love to sit and chat, but I have surgery," Cristina stated.

"Ok. Do your best and show up before the cake. Morgan's waiting for you," Meredith grinned.

Cristina just smiled and walked away. Meredith turned around and headed to the elevators. She had a few patients to check on and then she was free to go home to her daughter. Stepping into the elevator, someone grabbed her by the waist.

"Derek," Meredith sighed, scared a little.

"Sorry," he grinned. "Are you going home?"

"Not yet."

"Good, because I have to stay around for a little longer, too. Maybe we can go together. What's that?" he asked, suddenly noticing the present.

"It's from my interns for Morgan."

"Oh, that's nice of them. What did they get her?"

"I don't know. It's not mine."

"Seriously?" Derek laughed and took the present out of her hands. "Someone needs to help her opening her presents anyway," he excused his gesture when she glared at him. "A stuff Doctor bear! Cute."

Meredith giggled. It was cute indeed.

"You've seen them in surgeries," Meredith became worried. "Do you think they're going to pass the exam?"

"Mer," Derek smiled reassuringly. "That's an exam they have to pass. You taught them everything they needed to know. Now it's up to them, only."

"And I don't have Little Grey," she also sighed with relief.

"Who?" Derek asked, confused. "Morgan… she's…"

"Not Morgan. The Other Grey."

"Your sister!"

"She's not my sister," she retorted, visibly disturbed.

They stepped out of the elevator and Derek immediately walked her to the nearest on-call room.

"I don't want to talk about this," Meredith told him.

"Meredith…"

"She's not my sister, Derek. We share the same father, only. Not even that, actually, because my dad was never around. She's just… my father's daughter. I can't call her otherwise. Or I can call her Little Grey."

"Who is Morgan, then?"

"She's Junior," Meredith giggled. "Cristina named them."

"Right. Cristina," Derek muttered. He checked his watch and pulled Meredith into his arms. "Do you have any place to be for the next… 20 minutes?"

Meredith narrowed her eyes, smiling lustily. "What do you need my help for?"

"I want you to be relaxed today and no think about anyone but us," Derek asked her.

Meredith couldn't be happier than that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his.

…

Later in the afternoon, Meredith's house was full with her friends. She didn't even know she had so many until she saw all of them at the same place; Carolyn and Nancy had come, together with Anna and Trisha, Dr. Bailey with her husband and their son Tuck, Claudia, who also came with her son and his pregnant wife, Izzie, Cristina, Owen and even Alex Karev was there.

Though she had never had so many people on her territory, Morgan didn't seem to mind them. She was playing with her toys, together with Tuck and her friend from the park, Steve, while Cujo was entertaining Morgan's bigger cousins.

Because Morgan was too little to care, the grown-ups were in charge with receiving and opening the presents.

Cristina was the first one to step ahead with her present.

Opening it, Meredith and Derek looked at each other, confused.

"I can bet that no one else gave her something like this," Cristina bragged.

"This is… paper infant size… scrubs?" Meredith looked amusingly.

"And it's handmade," Cristina added.

"Handmade?" Both, Meredith and Derek were impressed.

"By your hands?" Derek laughed.

Meredith scowled at Derek and Cristina was about to retort, but Owen cut in, "You have some impressive skills."

Cristina grinned, elbowing him, "You should know better."

"But I really don't care," Derek made a face.

Meredith elbowed Derek to stop. "It's great, Cristina. Really. Thanks."

Morgan received the usual stuff for her age: dolls, clothes, shoes and different kind of toys, most of them medical related. Meredith had bought her a pair of tiny earrings and Derek was still keeping his present a secret.

"It's a surprise," he was saying each time Meredith tried to get something out from him.

Derek was helping Morgan take a few steps, impressing the guests, when the doorbell rang. Meredith went to answer.

Opening the door, Meredith had a nightmare. It took her less than a second to shut it back, gasping for air because of the scare. As the doorbell rang again and Meredith didn't seem to be there to answer, Derek came to check.

"Meredith?" he asked, confused, seeing her as if she was fighting to keep the door locked. "Meredith?" he hurried to her, visibly worried. "Who is at the door?"

"I think… I think I'm not feeling too great…" Meredith stuttered.

Derek put a hand on her forehead, but there was no sign of fever and she didn't even look tired; but she did look scared. "Let me see who is it," he took a step aside to open the door, but Meredith grabbed it quickly.

"I think it's a sick joke. Someone celebrating Halloween earlier…"

"What?" Derek laughed at her and wanted to open the door, once again being stopped by Meredith. "Seriously, Mer."

"It's a clown," she whispered, as if that was supposed to scare Derek too and make him keep the door locked.

Derek started to laugh then. "Of course it's a clown, because I called one. Don't be silly."

"Why would you call one?" Meredith asked, outraged.

Derek was taken back a little by her attitude. "Have you ever been abused by a clown?" he asked, trying to look for a reasoning explanation to her behavior.

"Nobody likes clowns," she pointed out.

"I do. And children do, too." He took a deep breath and called to the door. "In a second!" then he looked at Meredith. "You can stay in the kitchen while he's here. He'll make some tricks and leave. I promise."

Meredith gave him a long stare before she finally caved in. "Fine."

Derek kissed her on the cheek, smiling reassuringly.

"Don't take pictures because I don't want to see them," she asked him as she left for the kitchen.

Derek finally let the clown in. He walked him to the guests and all the children stopped from what they were doing to look at the strange character. Trisha and Anna were old enough and they had certainly seen clowns before, but that was the first time for the little ones. Everyone was staring at him. Not even Anna or Trisha looked excited to have a clown at the party.

Morgan, who was in Carolyn's arms when Derek and the clown walked in, was also staring at him.

"Come here, Morgan," Derek took from his mother, to introduce her to the clown.

"Let's see if we can make a nice crown for the birthday girl," the clown laughed and took out a balloon, which he blew, knotting it in the shape of a crown then.

Morgan was looking at him with a frown on her face. There was something about his face that she didn't like. She clutched on Derek's shirt when the clown got closer to put the balloon on her head.

Then she started crying and pushed the balloon off her head.

"Oh, why did you do that?" Derek scolded her softly. "He was trying to be nice."

The clown took two tears out of his pockets and glued them on his face. Morgan had stopped from crying and watched the scene, somewhat amused. When the clown took off the tears and smiled, Morgan smiled too.

Derek was a little confused about Morgan's feelings toward the clown, but he hoped she would enjoy his present. He took a seat on the couch, with Morgan beside him, and they watched as the clown knotted balloons for the rest of the children.

Derek could tell that Morgan wasn't really enjoying all these, but she was curious and that was still a good thing. He let his mother take care of Morgan and he went into the kitchen to try and convince Meredith what a great party she was missing.

He was surprised to find Ellis in there, too.

"I guess this runs in family?" he chuckled. "The fear for clowns, I mean," he explained when both women looked confused.

Meredith sighed. "Mocked me if you want, but I don't like clowns."

"Why?" Derek still wanted to know.

"Did you ever look at their faces? They are not funny. They are scary and pathetic."

Derek could not believe that someone had such opinion about clowns.

Ellis let out a loud sigh, having something to say.

"We used to scare her with a clown doll in order to make her stay in her room at night. We were putting her outside her door. It had become a habit for her to sneak into our room in the middle of the night," she tried to explain herself.

Derek was staring, dumbfounded. If he had changed his opinion about Ellis lately, he had to go back and disapprove all of her actions as mother.

"What if you needed to go to the bathroom?" he asked them.

"It was for two or three nights only," Ellis insisted, when she saw Derek's disapproval.

"And you don't like clowns because of this?" Derek chuckled.

"It's not funny, Derek," Meredith scowled at him. "What? You've been raised in a circus?"

Derek shrugged, "I was just saying. You're missing a good show."

"I doubt," Meredith nodded.

"Seriously?" Derek could still not believe it. "Didn't you go to birthday parties?"

Meredith looked over at her mom. "Not to many," she said. "Most of them had clowns and I was starting to cry."

Derek bit his lip, not knowing if to laugh or feel pity for Meredith. "You don't like clowns either?" he asked Ellis.

"No. And I don't think I have to explain myself for this, too."

"I don't even want to know," Derek stated. "So… you're not coming in there with me? I can protect you. I can wipe that smile off his face in a second if he tries anything funny with you," he said, looking at Meredith.

She smiled and shook her head. "Just go and do juggles with your family, the circus."

Derek stared at her for a moment and then he turned around to leave. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at Meredith, "You were talking about the clown when you mentioned the circus. Right?"

Ellis and Meredith were staring at him.

"He's not always very smart, is he?" Ellis asked Meredith.

"Nope," Meredith shook her head.

Derek rolled his eyes and went back to the party.

"Who gave my daughter alcohol?" Derek laughed as he walked in and saw Morgan with the clown's red nose."

He took back his daughter and watched together at the clown's tricks.

"Where's Meredith? Is she alright?" Nancy asked, coming to sit next to her brother.

"She's fine. She's just scared of clowns," Derek smiled.

"Oh," Nancy chuckled. "I used to be scared of them, too. Remember?"

"Yes, but you're a grown-up now," Derek pointed out.

"I still found them creepy," Nancy admitted, trying somehow to take Meredith's side.

Derek let out a chuckle and shook his head. "No. This happens only when you have Ellis Grey as mother."

Nancy discreetly elbowed him and looking up, Derek saw Ellis standing not far from the couch. He questioningly looked at his sister. Nancy shrugged.

Ellis didn't seem like she had heard anything, but she was Ellis Grey, the woman who could perfectly hide her emotions.

Meredith, on the other hand, decided not to act childishly. It was her daughter's first birthday and she didn't want to miss a thing from the party. Standing by the entrance she watched, with a grin on her face, how Morgan interacted with everyone. She was growing each day, slowly becoming a little girl.

Derek spotted her standing her. He walked up to her and took her hand. "Do you want me to walk you in. I promise I won't let go of your hand."

"I am good here," Meredith rolled her eyes and smiled.

"He's getting ready to leave," Derek told her, looking at the clown. "And then it's cake time. Mom went to put the candle."

"I can't believe I've made it through my first year as mom."

Derek smiled proudly at her, rubbing her back.

"I couldn't have done it without you."

Derek smiled knowingly. "You'd be surprised."

"You've made it easier," Meredith stated.

Derek approved with a nod. "She would still be sleeping with you in bed, because she didn't have a crib."

"Get over it!" Meredith laughed. "I made it myself if you mind remembering it."

Derek leaned to her and kissed her softly.

After the clown left, Derek picked Morgan. It was the moment to blow the candle and cut the cake.

Carolyn brought in the cake and everyone started singing 'Happy Birthday' to Morgan. Derek smiled and gave Morgan to her mother, so she could blow into the candle. At everyone's applauses, Morgan slapped the cake, having everyone laughing.

"You have horrible voices," Derek laughed at them.

"You, shut up," his mother laughed and helped Meredith cut the cake, while Morgan was cleaning herself on the hand.

It wasn't long before the evening was over. The children needed their sleep and the house needed to be cleaned.

Meredith was in the shower when Derek's phone beeped when a new text message arrived. Derek picked up the phone and was surprised to find that the sender was Mark. Curious, he opened the message.

"_I'll be in Seattle tomorrow. Can you meet me for lunch?" Mark._

Mark was his best friend, still, but he realized he felt that only when Mark wasn't showing up in the picture. Right now, he was confused; he wasn't sure if a friendship with Mark was such a good idea, because if he had ever changed his mind about Morgan, it would be easier for Derek to hate him and fight against him.

He shook his head, clearing all those thoughts. He texted back : _"Ok. Let me know the hour."_

"You look serious," Meredith noticed as she walked out of the bathroom. "Bad news?" she asked as she saw the phone in his hand.

"No," he smiled. He put the phone aside and patted the seat beside him.

Meredith giggled and lay down with him.

Derek searched under his pillow and took out a box. "Happy Anniversary," he smiled down at her.

Meredith stared at him. "This isn't the date," she giggled.

"It kind of is. It's the date we met." He smiled and motioned her to open his present.

Before she did that, Meredith leaned down to the bottom drawer of the nightstand and took out her present for Derek.

"You bought me something," he pointed out.

"I was going to give it to you later," she explained.

"And you hide your presents in the drawers?" Derek chuckled.

"You never used them, so…"

"I should start using them, now and then. Open it!" he insisted, while opening his own. Derek started to laugh when he saw what she had taken him. "You bought me …"

"A watch!" she said surprised as she found a watch in her present, too. They started together when they looked at their watches.

"At least, none of us will be late home from now on," Derek joked.

"Can we not give each other anniversary presents from now on?"Meredith smiled.

Derek took the watches and put them aside on the nightstand, and then pulled Meredith on top of it. "I think we can negotiate."

Meredith started him, brushing her lips against his. Maybe they didn't have the simplest relationship, but they were happy together, completing each other.


	62. Chapter 62

Even though it had been a birthday party for an infant, apparently everyone was exhausted the next morning. Meredith was the unfortunate one that had to receive a page from work. The rest of the family was sleeping.

When he woke up, the house was still quiet. Derek imagined that his mother should be up already and maybe Morgan, too, if he was lucky enough to spend a little time with her before leaving for work.

After he showered and got dressed, Derek went to check on Morgan, just like he always did.

Ellis had proved that she actually had some social skills as she spent most of the evening interacting with Derek's sisters; therefore, she had slept over, too.

Derek wasn't surprised to find her in Morgan's room, though. Everyone knew, already, how much she was looking forward to spending some time with Morgan. Same as other times, Derek found her reading to Morgan from a book. What Derek had noticed about her was that she never talked to Morgan directly; she chose to communicate with her granddaughter through stories.

Morgan looked up, being the first one to notice Derek there in her room. She prattled something and held her arms out for her daddy.

Ellis looked up just then. She stood up as Derek walked in and gave him his daughter.

"Good morning, Morgan!" Derek joyfully kissed both of her cheeks. "Good morning," he told Ellis, then, less joyful.

Ellis just smiled.

As he carried Morgan to check on her diaper and change her from her pajama, Ellis cleared her throat.

"I never pretended to be a good mother," she told Derek.

Derek looked over his shoulder; she had overheard his comment about him. He turned halfway to her, wanting to apologize, but Ellis shook her head. "When you're young, you're not as smart as you think you are. When you reach to an older age you realize how life really works," she told him.

Before Derek came out of the dumbfound moment, Ellis picked her purse, saying, "I need to stop by the hotel to pick my things."

"Are you leaving today?" Derek asked.

Ellis nodded. Instead of leaving as she had told him she would do, Ellis stood in front of them, staring somewhat dreamingly at Morgan. When she looked at Derek, he knew she had something else to share with him, but she wasn't daring, this time.

"You can tell me," Derek said quickly when Ellis turned to the door.

She stopped dead in her track and looked at him. She smiled knowingly, as if she wasn't surprised that he had read her. She didn't say anything though; she just smiled and turned around to leave.

"Mark's coming to Seattle today," Derek stated before she could leave the room. "And I don't know what to do," he added when she stopped, listening to him.

Ellis sighed and turned back into the room. "If I had found another man, I'd given Meredith a better father. Blood's just blood; it doesn't make us family."

"It… kind of does," Derek answered, confused.

"Not always," Ellis stated.

Derek smiled, pleased of Ellis' reassurance.

"You've told me before," he said as Ellis turned to leave, again. "And I helped."

Ellis seemed to consider his help for a second, but then she smiled and left, "Goodbye, Derek."

He was starting to like Ellis… a little. Morgan was crankily fussing, rubbing her eyes and wanting to get off the table.

"Hangover?" Derek chuckled, kissing her on both cheeks, before he started undressing her.

…

Derek felt dizzy all day, that day; fortunately for his patients, they didn't need complicate surgeries. He tried all morning to decide if to meet Mark or not and after he finally made a decision, he didn't know how to tell Meredith about it. He had an attempt, but she was called by her interns before he could mention Mark's name, and so he was heading to the restaurant, at noon, without Meredith knowing about Mark's visit to Seattle.

He immediately spotted Mark to a table, waiting. He had wondered if he would find Mark nervous, because he certainly was, but he found him waiting patiently, looking comfortable, as always.

Mark smiled when Derek approached the table and got up, pulling Derek into a hug, honestly happy to see his best friend. Derek felt relaxed in an instant and he felt strange about it also.

"How's the family guy doing?" Mark asked, both of them taking seats across from each other.

Derek chuckled. "Family stuff."

"I can see," Mark nodded, starring amusingly at Derek's head. "You've started graying."

"You're showing your age, too, you know," Derek teased him back, laughing.

"No, I don't," he replied, self-convinced. "Ask every woman I've been with."

Derek smiled, shaking his head. Mark would never change. From there, they started talking about their common friends, Mark updating him with gossips and Derek re-telling stories from the past. It was like old times, when they were hanging around together, drinking and talking.

Suddenly, Mark started to look uncomfortable. He had finished with everything that worth it telling Derek about and now they seemed to have reached that point of conversation when Mark had to ask more about Derek's life.

"How are Meredith and Morgan?" he asked, a little bit more serious now.

"They are fine," Derek answered simply and couldn't hold it anymore, "How can you be so relaxed and talk so easily about them? Don't you feel the awkwardness?" Although Mark was no longer feeling that comfortable.

Mark took a deep breath, "I am trying to ignore it."

"How can you?" Derek asked, somewhat annoyed with the answer.

"Are you doing this for me?" Mark asked him. "Why are you trying to knock sense into me? Aren't you afraid that if you succeed, I might want to have Morgan back?"

"No," Derek answered. "Because you never had her, so there's no having her back. I am still the one she looks for at night to cradle with."

Mark smiled calmly. "I feel ok about all this," he admitted. "Because I know you're the best dad she could have. I've said this before… I want the best for her. I am not a cruel person. Are you seriously thinking that I'd ever be able to do all things you do for her?"

Derek didn't know how to answer to that.

"Don't feel sorry for me," Mark asked him. "I'm happy. You're happy. Everyone's happy."

They spent a minute or two in silence, just sipping from their coffees.

"When's your mom leaving?" Mark asked him.

"Later today," he answered.

"What time?" he asked, suddenly panicked.

Derek chuckled. "Around 8, I think. Why are you hiding from them? Why did you come, actually?"

"I wanted to see you and I am not hiding!"

"I get that you don't want to be her dad, but don't you want to be her uncle either?" Derek asked. "And don't tell me you're not ready to be an uncle, because you already are for my sisters' kids," he pointed out.

"It's awkward because your mom knows everything about this and… she's judging me."

"Maybe she'll judge less if she sees you trying to have some sort of connection with Morgan," Derek told him.

Mark didn't answer to that.

"When she laughs and when she frowns, she looks a lot like you. She has your features," Derek told him.

Mark just smiled. "Is she talking yet? Or walking?"

"She said our dog's name… if that counts," Derek chuckled.

"I don't have much time left," Mark stated as he checked his watch. "I have to be back to the hospital tonight."

"I'm glad you called," Derek told him.

"Maybe you'll do the first step, next time," Mark said.

"Maybe," Derek smiled. "Do you want to see pictures from the birthday party?"

"No," Mark answered quickly. "I am sure she's adorable. She has great genes though," he smirked.

"I know. I'm trying hard to polish them," he chuckled. She had good genes, indeed, but he wasn't jealous. In the end, he was the one receiving all of her affection.

Mark looked through his pockets and took out a tiny wrapped gift. He put it on the table and pushed it towards Derek. "This is for her birthday."

Derek looked at him and took the present. "Thanks."

Mark nodded and stood up. "I should head back to the airport now."

They shook hands and Mark pulled him into a bear hug. "Do something about the hair," he told Derek, joking.

"I'll have the girls take care of it," Derek laughed.

Mark chuckled and nodded. "Goodbye, Derek."

"Goodbye, Mark."

Derek stayed there and watched Mark leaving the restaurant. He knew they wouldn't talk again, any time soon.

…

After he drove his mom and sisters to the airport, Derek headed home. It had been a long day and he had barely seen Meredith at the hospital, so he still had to tell her about Mark's visit.

Cujo greeted him when he let himself into the house. The lights upstairs were on, but there was quiet.

He petted the dog and headed upstairs, together.

Derek smiled as he walked into their bedroom and found Meredith with Morgan. Meredith was laying across the bed and Morgan was playing beside her.

"Hey," she smiled tiredly.

"Hey," he walked up to the bed and sat down beside her. He leaned in and gave her a kiss and then he leaned to Morgan. "Hey, baby."

Morgan glanced up at him, but kept her attention on her toys.

"Long day," Derek muttered with a sigh.

Meredith sighed and nodded approvingly. "You didn't wash your hands," she told him as he kept caressing Morgan's head.

Derek nodded and didn't argue. He needed a whole bath anyway. After a few minutes, he was back in the room, showered and in comfy clothes. Meredith was resting against the headboard, now, and Morgan was playing on her abdomen. Derek took a seat beside Meredith, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Tired, she rested her head on him.

"Bad day?" he asked.

"You have no idea," she sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Meredith shrugged. "Except for the whole hospital crap… I talked to my mom this morning," she told him about the major issue of the day.

Derek was unpleasantly surprised to hear that. "I talked to her this morning, too, and she didn't look like she had argued with someone."

"You wouldn't know if she had even if she had argued with someone," Meredith smiled knowingly.

"What happened? I had started to like her."

Meredith chuckled at his words and then her smile faded. "She found out she has Alzheimer, early stage."

Derek sighed beside her and rubbed her arm in comfort. "She didn't say anything about this. I knew she had something to tell me."

Meredith looked at him, managing a smile. "You've become friends."

"I wouldn't call it friendship," he said. "We can still run more tests. If she's in early stage…"

"That's why she asked to spend more time with Morgan," Meredith didn't seem to listen to him. "She said she wanted to remember her, later on."

Derek thought she might be angry with her mother now. "And you are…"

"Sorry for her," she answered.

Derek kissed her temple. "But let's not give up," he tried to encourage her.

Meredith looked at him with a grateful smile, but it was obvious that she kept her hopes at low level. "Why all the things need to happen at the same time?" she asked herself.

"Ma-Ma…" a toy hit her face cheek before they could turn their attention to Morgan. "Mama…" she prattled, more coherent this time.

Meredith and Derek looked at her.

"You do know how to save the day," Meredith laughed, pulling her daughter into her arms.

Even for Derek that was a day saver.

Meredith laughed at Derek.

"I know," he laughed back, caressing her hair. "Not all the things are that bad. You have a family of your own now to turn to at the end of a bad day."

Meredith smiled, her eyes filling with gratitude. She titled her head, looking for his lips.

"Can you say that again?" Meredith smiled at Morgan, bouncing her on her knees. "Say Mama again."

"Or Dada," Derek cut in. "Da-Da," he became eager of hearing the word.

"Let's not force her, please," Meredith teased him.

But Morgan stuffed her fist into her mouth and refused to let any other sound out.

"How was your day?" Meredith asked, when they convinced themselves that they wouldn't take any other word out from her.

Derek lingered with the answer and had Meredith looking at him, curious.

"My day was interesting," he started telling her. "I met Mark today."

"You did?" she asked, surprised. "Here in Seattle?"

"Yes."

"Why is he here?"

"He left already. And I think he was here to bring a birthday present for Morgan," he told her and got out of the bed to go and take the present. He hadn't opened it, wanting to let Meredith do it.

"Why didn't you open it?"

Derek just shrugged.

"Why did he bring her present?"

Derek shrugged again and chuckled, "So many 'why's, I know." He took a short paused and asked her, "Is it wrong that I want Mark to know Morgan? At least from pictures or from what we tell him about her?"

Meredith just looked at him.

"I don't want him to become her dad," he felt like she needed to be reassured. "I just want things to be less awkward between us. We had a moment today, while we talked, when it felt like old times; until he asked about Morgan."

"I don't know, Derek. I barely know Mark. I don't know him as well as you do. I trust your judgment, though."

Derek nodded.

"Besides, I want him to be the last thing on my mind. At least until… things sort out around here."

"It'll take time with Mark," he assured her. "What did he get her?" he motioned to the present.

Meredith tore the paper and found a jewelry box with the name of a fancy jewelries house imprinted on it.

"Typical of Mark," Derek stated.

Opening the box, they found a pair of tiny earrings with bright blue diamond stones. There was a note with it, too.

'_To match her eyes.'_

"He remembers her eyes," Meredith pointed out to Derek, referring to his statement earlier. "He doesn't need to know her; he knows who she is," she muttered and glanced up at Derek.

Derek didn't say anything to that, because he knew Meredith was somewhat right.

"Mama," Morgan threw a fist to her mother, calling for her attention.

"What you said? You're hungry?" Derek laughed at the baby girl.

Morgan giggled at him.

"Don't worry," Meredith got out of the bed, with Morgan in her arms. "Daddy can make us dinner, while we take a walk around the house."

"Nice," Derek pretended to pouted, but smiled the second Meredith smiled up at him.

In moments like this, Mark didn't even matter to him; Meredith and Morgan were the most important to him.


	63. Chapter 63

There was something about Derek that Meredith loved; he often could manage making her giggle like a teenager. Skipping the flirting and the dating part at the beginning of their relationship, it felt refreshing for both of them to act as two new lovers, from time to time.

Meredith's favorites were the showers and the elevators. This morning, Derek spoiled her more than ever, with an early shower and a quick ride with the elevator. When the elevator ringed, announcing Meredith's floor, Derek held the doors a little longer, to be able to kiss her a little more.

Meredith giggled and barely motivated herself to step away from his arms. Derek stayed in elevator, watching her leave until the doors closed before him.

With a bright smile on her face, Meredith watched where she was walking; it didn't even matter that she couldn't stop from smiling and everyone was turning heads to her; this was a happy morning.

It had been a few days since Mark's visit and nothing had changed. Derek tried calling him, but he only managed to speak to him for a minute, as Mark excused himself for being busy. At work, everything was perfect; all her interns managed to pass the exam, she had performed a few successful surgeries; at home, everything was perfect, too; Morgan was brightening her day each time she called her 'Mama', while Derek was still desperately trying to make her say 'Dada'.

As she walked past two nurses, Meredith caught the way they were staring at her, and then she heard whispering, "She looks happy." "I thought she wasn't in good terms with her sister."

Meredith stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around to look at the two nurses, and found them staring back at her. She looked around her, then and everyone was shooting glances to her direction.

Her sister.

She had completely forgotten about her father's other daughter. Just then she noticed the new faces, all of them nervous. One of them was her sister.

Meredith saw Cristina writing down in a chart, with 5 interns behind her. She looked at the women, but she couldn't tell which one was _her_. She approached Cristina and leaned over the counter, not looking or talking to her.

Cristina leaned over too. "Nobody likes her," she whispered.

Meredith nodded as if that answer had satisfied her. Even though she knew Cristina was just trying to make her feel better.

A young doctor approached her. "Dr. Grey?"

Meredith looked at him and the 4 others and nodded.

"I'm Dr. Henrick," he introduced himself.

Meredith smiled politely and the read the rest of the interns' names, to learn all of them by name. After that, she started on telling them the rules, sharing the pagers and the flyers and introducing them the rounds of the hospital.

They were heading down in the clinic when they stepped out of the elevator and the same Dr. Henrick came beside her and asked, "Is it true that you're related to the other Grey?"

Meredith felt a chill down her spine. She had refused to imagine how this day would go, but she was sure she hadn't expected to that.

She turned around, glaring, "Just the same last name. Coincidence."

Dr. Henrick smiled knowingly, glancing at his fellow interns. "We heard something else," he told Meredith.

"From who?" Meredith asked, though she knew it was wrong to go on with that.

"People talk," he shrugged. "And we're new. We don't know all of them."

Meredith didn't appreciate his sarcasm and she hoped, for her sake, that it wasn't her sister herself that had spread the rumor.

"Then try to eavesdrop at some medical gossips. Maybe you'll catch an interesting case," she told him, also looking at the rest.

"Hey," Izzie caught up with Meredith as she headed to the laboratories.

"hey," Meredith just smiled. "Have you seen Derek?"

"Uh—yeah…" Izzie looked, confused.

Meredith just nodded, and that hadn't satisfied Izzie's curiosity enough.

"Are you avoiding everyone today?" Izzie misread her silence.

"Why?" Meredith asked.

"You know…" Izzie just shrugged as if Meredith knew already why.

Meredith sighed and stopped to talk to her friend. "What did you hear?"

"It's because of the other Grey. Everyone's talking about you two."

"I think I've already found out about that," Meredith replied sarcastically. Suddenly she furrowed her brows into a glare. "What has she been telling the people?"

"Nothing," Izzie answered. "I think."

Meredith sighed. That girl would better not give her more reasons to dislike her.

"Meredith, as we talk here, there's at least one word that's caught by a person around us. Everyone knows you two are related and not speaking to each other," Izzie explained. "I've seen her. She doesn't look like a bad person."

"I'm not saying she's bad. I just want to have nothing to do with her. I don't want to know her."

Izzie smiled at Meredith, comforting her. "You'll learn how to deal with this, in time. By then, what do you say if we go for a little shopping after work? We can buy cute stuff for Morgan," Izzie knew how to appeal her.

Meredith giggled. "I think I could try some therapy shopping."

"Great then," Izzie beamed. "Make sure you ask Derek his credit card."

Meredith started to laugh. "Let's save his money for some other time."

Izzie rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'm heading to the cafeteria. Are you coming?"

"After I stop by the lab," Meredith told them and took it the opposite direction.

After she picked the test results for her patient, Meredith was ready to go and have lunch when she noticed someone, from the corner of her eyes, shyly trying to approach her. Meredith stopped and turned to look at the young female doctor.

"Uh—Dr. Grey?" she asked sheepishly.

"Yes," Meredith answered slowly, carefully watching her and realizing who that woman was. Now she remembered the evening she went to see her father and the girl that stopped by while she was leaving. That was her sister.

"My name is Lexie," she introduced herself, smiling shyly as Meredith didn't say anything. "Lexie Grey. I am your sister."

Meredith felt numb at those words.

"We haven't met yet…" Lexie took a step forward. "I was looking forward to meeting you."

Meredith looked at her and said quietly, "I wasn't."

That answer seemed to have defeated Lexie. She wasn't smiling and she was looking somewhat ashamed. "Couldn't we talk?" she dared to ask.

"There's nothing to talk about," Meredith answered with calm.

"Meredith," she asked, unwilling of dropping the subject so easily.

Meredith was just turning to leave when she heard her name. She shook her head and started walking away.

After a few seconds, Lexie followed her. "I know this is awkward, but… we need to talk. We're sisters."

Meredith suddenly stopped and looked at Lexie. "We are not sisters."

"We're half-sisters," Lexie corrected herself.

"Not even," Meredith replied.

"But we should…"

"Or not!" Meredith cut her words. "Don't you have work to do? I sure have." With that, she picked up the pace and left Lexie behind.

…

That day had been stressful, and not because of the patients and surgeries. Meredith buried herself in work, refusing to talk or to listen to her friends' advices or to the staff's gossips about her and Lexie. She couldn't wait to leave that place.

To her disappointment, Lexie wasn't down in the main lobby as she said she would be. She was taking out her phone to call her when she noticed someone shyly approaching her.

Meredith sighed and put the phone back into her purse.

"What do you want now?" she asked, turning to Lexie.

"I am sorry about earlier. Probably that wasn't the right way of introducing myself," Lexie explained. "My thoughts mess up when I am nervous, sometimes."

Meredith just looked at her to see if she had anything else to add.

"My mom is doing her treatment at Mercy West, so I decided to come back to Seattle to be closer to her. Seattle Grace was my first option because it's on the highest rank and… I was that good in the med school." She smiled, hoping for some sense of humor from Meredith. But Meredith was just looking at her. "We're going to work together, so we do need to talk."

"Not really," Meredith replied.

Lexie didn't give up. "My sister and I didn't know about you until you came looking for our dad. He told us about you, after that day. We want to know you better. I want to know you better, because…" she had trouble finding the right words.

"You want to be the bigger person," Meredith told her.

"No! It's because now I know about you and… I have to know you. You're my sister, too. If we manage to… bond somehow, then you and dad…"

"I am not interested," Meredith told her. "I don't want to know him anymore."

"That's not true," Lexie smiled kindly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have had the curiosity of seeing him that day."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Meredith nodded.

"Meredith…"

"No." Meredith refused to listen to her. "You're a good person. I can see that, so don't feel any guilt because of this. You have nothing to do with this situation. We're not sisters. You have a dad and I… I had one for a very short time."

"But he was your dad in that very short time," Lexie pointed out.

"I don't know," Meredith shook her head. "I don't remember much and mom didn't have much to tell me about him either."

"Maybe you should listen to his side of the story, then."

Meredith remained quiet for a while and then answered, "No."

"Then give me a chance," Lexie asked her.

"Why are you insisting?" Meredith asked.

"Because I can give up only after I know I insisted enough."

"And what does enough means to you? Because I sure had enough. You don't know anything about me or about my life. Or about your dad's life before your family, so I say this is enough."

To her relief, Meredith saw Izzie coming. Izzie questioningly looked at her as she passed past Lexie.

Meredith turned around and left the hospital with Izzie, leaving Lexie, once again, behind.

"Wanna talk about it?" Izzie asked cautiously.

"Not a single word," Meredith told her.

"Alright. Let's shop."

…

Meredith finally arrived home. She left herself into the house and put the bags down when she heard Derek talking to Morgan.

"Mommy's home."

"Ma-ma?" she heard Morgan asking.

Meredith was feeling much better, already. "Hey," she laughed when Derek showed up, helping Morgan walk.

"Ma-Ma," Morgan giggled and pulled a hand out of Derek's to hold her up to her mother. But Cujo came running before her, being the first one to receive her greet.

Meredith picked her in her arms then and started kissing her, making her laugh with delight.

"Hey," Derek kissed her on the cheek.

Meredith just smiled at him.

"How was shopping?" he asked, picking her bags and taking them upstairs.

"Boring," Meredith answered as she followed him upstairs.

Derek glanced over his shoulder. "Right. I remember how you shop when you're in the mood," he laughed, hitting on their trip to Disneyland.

Meredith giggled.

They arrived in their bedroom and Meredith sat down on the bed, exhausted. She put Morgan down beside her.

Derek joined them in bed. He brushed Meredith's hair away and kissed her on the neck. Meredith moaned.

"Everything you've done last night and this morning… was it to make me forget about Lexie?" she asked him.

Derek smiled at her. "I did it to make you feel bright. You're friendlier when you feel bright."

"And am I unfriendly when I am grumpy?"

Derek just smiled. "I just wanted to help."

Meredith smiled, grateful for his intention.

"How did it go?" he asked her.

"Derek," Meredith sighed. "Please stay out this. I appreciate your help, but… please stay out of this."

Derek looked at her as if he wasn't going to give up.

"Please don't take sides," she asked him. "Be… Switzerland."

Derek caressed her cheek and as he did that Meredith felt he still had something to say, so she told him before he could say a word, "People like you and Lexie…" she took a deep breath as tears threatened to fill her eyes. "…you can't understand me.

Derek was listening to her.

"You two had families. Family dinners, family reunions. I didn't," she went on and slowly she was confessing everything to Derek. "She had a perfect family and… she found out about me and now she wants me too. She wants more. Or she wants charity. I don't want to be anyone's charity, Derek."

Derek was still listening to her, but this time she was expecting him to say something.

When he noticed that, he reminded her, "I am Switzerland."

"Fine! Take sides," she asked him and added, "My side."

Derek smiled and pulled her into his arms. "Then talk to her only to ask her for more time. Because one thing is sure, you'll have to work together sometimes and you'll get to know each other. You might like her or she might dislike her. Or vice versa. My point is… time will tell."

"Does that sound like you're on my side?"

Derek chuckled. "I am on your side and by your side. Meredith? I think I know you better than you know yourself."

And Derek was a bit right about that because he knew she couldn't ignore the whole situation as she said she could and because deep down she would want to know a little bit more about her father and his family.

"Pot…" Morgan muttered sadly.

"What?" Meredith asked her. She looked at Derek, but he couldn't translate either.

"Pot," Morgan touched Meredith's cheek, sad.

"Is she asking for her potty?" Meredith asked Derek.

"I don't… know. She doesn't like it. I'll go get it," he said, standing up from the bed.

"Do you need potty?" Meredith asked her baby daughter, smiling as she brushed her hair with her fingers.

Morgan didn't say anything this time. Instead, she looked deep into her mother's eyes. Meredith became curious and watched her carefully.

"Derek?" she called him.

"Yeah?" he showed up with Morgan's potty.

"I think… I think she meant 'pout' not 'potty'," Meredith told him, still watching her daughter.

Morgan broke the gaze took look back at her dad. "Dada," she giggled at him.

Meredith looked up at Derek, surprised. "You don't look surprised," she noticed how he just came and took Morgan.

"Claudia called me today while I was at work. They were looking at some photos and she said 'Dada' as she saw me." He tossed Morgan up in the air, making her giggle. "How many new words do you know, huh?"

"She saw I was said but… who taught her this word?" Meredith asked, confused. "I don't use it that often."

Derek just shrugged. "Maybe it's in the story books. We need to celebrate, anyway."

Meredith lay down on the bed and laughed as she watched Derek bouncing Morgan, making her fly like an airplane and laughed at her infectious laughter.


	64. Chapter 64

Derek felt tired when he opened his eyes, next morning; his body felt heavy and his eyes sore. Meredith was snuggled beside him, sounding asleep. Just when he caressed her shoulder, Derek realized the phone was ringing.

Confused, he turned to his nightstand and picked up the phone.

"Yes," he answered sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Derek! Good morning. It's Claudia," she sounded hurried to Derek at first.

"Hey."

"I am sorry for not showing up and calling you on the last minute, but I hoped I'd feel better."

Still sleepy and confused, Derek looked at Meredith and then at the alarm clock as he listened to Claudia. "I can come there today. I got a horrible cold."

Just as Claudia talked and he listened, Derek noticed that he had forgotten to set the alarm. "That's fine… It's fine, Claudia," he got out of the bed, already shaking Meredith to wake up. "We'll take Morgan with us. Don't worry. Uh- call us if you don't get better."

"I will. I am sorry."

"That's fine," Derek was still clearing his head, trying to figure what to do first. "Take care." He hung up and threw the phone back on the nightstand. He picked it up again and checked the time. It was the time they were supposed to head to their cars, already. "Meredith! Wake up. It's late."

Meredith moaned, rolling onto her back and stretching her body. "Morning," she smiled sleepily at him.

Derek chuckled and, despite the late hour, he leaned down and kissed her. "We didn't set the alarm and it's time to go. And Claudia is not coming because she's sick."

"What?" Meredith stood up, wrapping the sheet around her body.

Playing until late with Morgan and later on with Meredith had been exhausting for Derek. It was no wonder that his body felt so tired.

"I am taking a quick shower while you wake Morgan up and dress her," Derek told Meredith as he picked his clothes and headed to the bathroom.

"Yes, sir," Meredith laughed. She stretched her body again and just then motivated herself to stand up and put a bathrobe on her.

She walked into Morgan's room where she sounded asleep. Even Cujo was looking tired at that hour. As she approached the crib, Cujo got up, wriggling his tail as he waited his turn for good morning and breakfast. Slowly she picked Morgan up, cradling her back into her arms and rocking her slowly.

"Morgan?" she whispered softly and Morgan's sleepy eyes were slowly opening. "Hey," she smiled down at her baby daughter. "It looks like you're going to spend your day with me and Daddy."

Morgan let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes. Now she was awake and ready to listen to what her mother was saying. Meredith dressed her and then took her into her room to look for her own cloths. She put her on the bed while she looked through closet for clean clothes. She picked a blouse, a pair jeans and lingerie and threw them on the bed.

She was about to call Derek to come take Morgan while she would take a shower when she saw Morgan's mood for playing as she picked her mother's clothes and started throwing them over her head.

Meredith laughed and walked up to the bed. She took the blouse and covered Morgan's head with it, to pull it off the next second. Morgan shook her head as she felt her hair raveled and started laughing. She wanted to do the same with her mother, but her tiny arms didn't help her. Meredith got in bed then and covered under the blanket. Morgan watched her as she disappeared and allowed her a few moments come out by herself. As Meredith stayed hidden, Morgan crawled to the place she had last seen her mother, and pulled on the blanket; she wasn't strong and precise enough, so she tried a second time, succeeding. She fell on her butt and laughed, clapping her hands.

Meredith was having a thrill too. She hid again and let Morgan found her. The next time, she pulled two blankets over her face, giving Morgan a little trouble. As she pulled off the first blanket and saw her mommy wasn't there, Morgan looked puzzled. She stared at the bed as if she was trying to understand something. Then she pulled on the other blanket and her mother let out squeal as she found her. Morgan fell on her back this time, laughing.

That was how Derek found them. He would have found everything very funny if it wasn't that late. He knew he was allowed to be a little late from time to time, but Meredith had other responsibilities.

"Seriously, Mer," he chuckled from the doorway. "You didn't even showered," he noticed, not that amused, now.

Meredith got up, pouting childishly at him.

Derek smiled discreetly. He slapped his hands together, shouting, "Ok, girls! Time for school!"

Meredith laughed and picked her clothes before she went into the bathroom.

Morgan had watched the scene, giggling. She watched her mother as she went into the bathroom and then she looked up at Derek, holding out her arms, whimpering for him to go and get her.

"Call me," Derek encouraged her. "Say 'Da-da come get me'," but Morgan whimpered again, instead and he had to give up and take her.

"Kuko," she pointed over her father's shoulder, calling for her dog.

"Of course," Derek sighed, with a little jealousy.

…

Because Derek didn't have any consult or surgery in the morning, Morgan spent the first hours with her father.

She was the highlight of day for the hospital and everyone that knew her.

Meredith, instead, had been swamped from the moment she stepped into the hospital and just at noon she could go to the daycare to take her daughter for lunch.

She found her playing with a group of children, little Tuck being one of them. Meredith felt relieved to see her adjusting in groups and just now she realized how much she had grown. It seemed like yesterday the last time they had brought her at the daycare and looked like a helpless baby through all those children. Now she was communicating with them in their infant language, looking like she was fitting in that group.

Morgan looked at her mother and squealed as she recognized her. She had been in a bright mood lately. Meredith went and took her into her arms, heading together to the cafeteria.

They had just bought the food and they were waiting for Derek, when Meredith felt someone sitting on the chair next to her. She sighed, because she didn't have to look to know who that was.

"You didn't insist enough, did you?" she asked, looking at Lexie.

Lexie smiled and shook her head. "Is she your daughter?"

Meredith looked down at the food she was preparing for Morgan and nodded her head.

Waiting for her food, Morgan stuffed a finger into her mouth and looked at Lexie. It was that moment when she had to stare at a new face. And for the first time, Meredith hated it. She was holding Lexie's attention on her and that would make her stay longer at the table.

Curious thing this time, Morgan didn't stare that long and that deep as she usually did with new faces. She smiled and prattled something at Lexie and then returned to her food. She grabbed a carrot and started chewing on it.

Meredith didn't like to admit it, but she knew Morgan had easily read Lexie and liked her.

Nobody was saying anything now. Meredith looked at Lexie, "You're still insisting, right now?"

Lexie nodded her head.

Meredith sighed and looked down at Morgan, watching her how she served herself from her salad. Lexie had brought a sandwich with her, to eat. They were eating in silence, but also in a very uncomfortable moment.

After a minute, Meredith looked up at Lexie, "I've been thinking… why are you really trying to know me and why do you want to be my sister?"

Lexie was looking at her, knowing she had an answer, too.

"You're that perfect," Meredith answered.

Lexie stared at her for a second, surprised with the answer, and then laughed nervously, shaking her head, "I am definitely far from being perfect."

Meredith just glanced at her, not truly believing her.

"I am not!" Lexie insisted. "You'd not believe how many stupid things I've done," she stated, and also added, "I'm perfect to my parents only." Meredith looked at her like she still didn't believe her. "I did!" Lexie insisted then. "Look... for example… I had an affair with a married man."

Meredith was looking at her and felt like laughing, "Is that the stupidest thing you've done?" she started laughing at, what she considered, her innocence.

"And he was almost my dad's age," Lexie added quietly.

Meredith slowly stopped from laughing and looked at Lexie. That sounded kind of stupid, indeed.

"Look…" Lexie started saying, "I didn't care much about you when I first found out that you existed. When I decided to come back in Seattle and start my internship here, I thought I didn't stand any chance. And you know why? Because I knew you'd be here. And I thought that… you, being here… I thought you'd ask your mother to interfere and keep me away. I know your mother has influence. But then I was admitted and… I knew I should meet you."

"How do you know I didn't try but it didn't work?" Meredith asked her.

Lexie smiled as if she had expected that question. "My father told me a little about your mother and about the marriage they had. Your mother… really hates my dad and… she would have helped you if you'd asked her."

"But what if I did ask her, and she couldn't convince the Chief?"

Lexie smiled. "Because I know she would have succeeded."

"How…"

"She talked to Dr. Mayer, the specialist in oncology from Mercy West, and he's a busy doctor. You need to schedule your cancer years before so you can get an appointment with him. She did that."

Meredith was speechless. She had no idea of what Lexie was saying. She could not even imagine her mother doing that or a reason to do it.

"So… thank you for giving me a chance. I mean… for giving me a chance here at Seattle Grace."

Meredith looked down. Morgan hadn't paid much attention to them and like a big girl she had eaten from her food by herself. Her clothes were dirty, of course, but Meredith wiped her face and hands and then kissed her sticky cheek.

Lexie was anxiously waiting for Meredith to say something.

Meredith looked at her. "I have a daughter now," she told her. "And she changed everything. I have a boyfriend that I am about to marry with. I moved on and I have my family now. I really don't miss my dad anymore. I am not even curious about him."

Lexie sighed, her shoulders falling with disappointment.

"I am not like you," Meredith continued. "I am not good… with people and… relationships. You cannot expect me to start crying and call you 'sis'. I don't know you. We need time. I need time."

Lexie looked up as Meredith spoke the last words and a small smile of gratitude showed up on her face. "Of course. Thank you."

Meredith just flashed a smile and nodded. "I'd like to have lunch now," she told Lexie as she was late leaving her table.

"Right," Lexie stood up quickly. "She's pretty, by the way."

Meredith nodded."Do not kiss my ass. I don't like it."

"What?" Lexie laughed nervously. "I am not. I… she really is." With that, she turned around and left.

Meredith took a deep breath and let everything out. She felt much better now. After this conversation, Meredith couldn't say she liked Lexie, but she didn't have a bad opinion about her either.

Looking up from their food, Meredith was surprised to find Derek sitting on a table not far from them, watching them. He got up, picked up his tray and came to their table.

"Hey," he leaned over and gave Meredith a kiss on the cheek.

"You watched us," Meredith sounded like she was reproaching.

"I watched her," Derek defended himself, pointing to Morgan. "Someone had to supervise her while you two talked. I am proud of you, by the way," he chuckled and gave her another kiss.

Meredith smiled, rolling her eyes.

"You even laughed together."

"That wasn't really a good laugh," Meredith answered.

Derek chuckled and nodded. "I am still proud of you." He stood up to take Morgan from Meredith. "I am not very proud of you, young lady," he put Morgan onto his lap and took the food from Meredith to feed her. "Look at you," he wiped her mouth. "Good thing you're getting closer to the mouth now," he laughed.

"When should she start learning how to use the spoon," Meredith asked. Everything was about Morgan and her family, again.

…

After work, Derek took his family to the lake. They were living into their new house now, but they never had time to go and take a walk by the lake.

The evening was cloudless and chill.

They put a blanket down and sat down watching the red water. Everything had shades of red that evening. Fall was coming.

Cujo ran around them, sliding and hiding under the leaves. It had been long since he last had such a great and long walk with his masters.

Morgan couldn't stay at one place either and so she started crawling around, gathering leaves off the ground. She was helping herself up, holding her parents' shoulders as she made a few steps between them, but not by herself.

Meredith and Derek didn't want to push her, but they had to keep trying; and so Derek was holding Morgan by the waist, encouraging her to go to her mother by herself. The moment, Derek took his hands off her, and Morgan found herself without any support, Morgan balanced a little as she looked at her parents. She must have felt like a little bug all by herself on her feet and she tried to move. She took a step forward and then she was down. She sat on her bum, without crying, but visibly frustrated and held her hands out for someone to help her get up. Derek helped her and then tried again.

Morgan was growing, one step at the time.

* * *

_**N/A**_: From here I will skip a few months ahead and move the story days closer to their wedding. I only have a few chapters left from this fic. I hope you enjoy it.


	65. Chapter 65

Meredith tapped with her fingers against the steering wheel while waiting at the last traffic light. She was so nervous about the visit she was about to make that she only managed to focus on the road.

"Eo… e..o," just when she pulled the car into the parking lot, in front of the Nursing Home, she paid attention to Morgan's bubble.

Turning around to look at her, Meredith could not believe her eyes when she saw her daughter speaking on the phone.

"Morgan," she giggled and unbuckled her seatbelt. In that moment she could hear a muffled voice coming from Morgan's hands. She gasped and grabbed the phone out of her daughter's hands. "Hello?" she talked, confused as she didn't know who she was talking to. Checking the ID, Meredith could not believe it was her lab professor from college. "Mr. Grant. Hi!"

"Who is this?" the professor asked. Meredith knew him as a kind and patient man, but this time he sounded like he was losing patience.

"It's Meredith Grey," Meredith introduced herself, running a hand through her hair.

"Meredith Grey?" the professor chuckled. "What was that?"

"That was my daughter," Meredith explained as she turned to smile back at Morgan. "She's just learning to speak."

"You have a daughter?" he asked, surprised. "Already?"

Meredith rolled her eyes and let out a discreet sigh. "Yes. I am sorry, but I am in a hurry. I was paged at the hospital and I need to drop her off at the daycare."

"Sure. Call me when you can. I am looking forward from hearing from you."

"I certainly will," Meredith smiled sarcastically. She liked him as teacher, but only while he was teaching something; otherwise, he was an exhausting man to listen.

"Goodbye, then. And have a nice day."

"Goodbye, Mr. Grant," Meredith nodded, rolling her eyes again. She put the phone into the purse and got out of the car to take Morgan out. "Seriously?" she laughed as she unbuckled her from her seat. "He's so chatty, Morgan. You have no idea."

"On…on…" she giggled.

"Yes. The phone. You're not getting your hands on it from now on," Meredith cooed at her daughter as she took her out of her car seat. She kissed both of her cheeks and then put her down, giving her the rag doll she had been carrying with her lately. "Come on. Let's see grandma."

Morgan looked uncertain around her, at the unfamiliar place, and instinctively held her hand up to her mother to lead her.

They walked slowly to the entrance, Morgan sounding as if she wanted to talk about things she saw around her, but only blabber came out. Meredith laughed, enjoying the voice of her daughter. She was sure now that she would be a very chatty girl once she learns more words and learns how to form questions coherently.

At the Nursing Home, Meredith was greeted by one of the nurses, who directed her to the patio, where her mother was.

Morgan walked quietly holding her mother's hand and wanted to sit down and play when they walked outside on the grass.

"Let's see grandma first," Meredith told her.

Morgan looked up and asked, "Gan'ma?"

Meredith smiled, "Yes. Grandma."

Meredith saw her mother sitting alone on a table, reading from a book. She took a deep breath as she approached the table. She hadn't seen her mother much since she admitted herself in this Nursing Home. That was her mother wish and Meredith found out it was easy to respect it. She stayed, though, in touch with her mother's doctor, who kept her informed about the progression of the disease.

"Hello, mother," Meredith smiled.

Ellis frowned at the sun as she looked up. She had an empty look and Meredith understood that she might not recognize her.

"It's me Meredith," she said, sitting down across from her. She picked Morgan up and put her on her knees.

"I knew," Ellis grumbled as she glared down at the book, but Meredith knew that wasn't true and it was just her mother's pride.

"Mogan," Morgan cut in, then, introducing herself after her mother's example.

Ellis looked up, curious, as if she hadn't noticed that the toddler was there too. Ellis stared at her granddaughter.

"How… how are you?" Meredith asked sheepishly.

But Ellis kept staring at her granddaughter. The staring was Morgan's thing so she didn't mind the long and intense eye contact with her grandmother.

Meredith sighed discreetly. The last time she had visited her mother, she was doing much better; she was suddenly forgetting what she was saying and starting a new topic, but she knew who she was talking to. This time she looked worse.

"How's Morgan?" Ellis surprised her with the question.

Morgan looked up at her mother and Meredith smiled down at her.

"This is Morgan, mom," Meredith told her, running her fingers through Morgan's blonde curls. "She has grown. She's almost 2 now."

Ellis looked back at Morgan. A smile was lighting her face up. "She is," she muttered to herself, smiling down at Morgan while running her finger through her blonde curls, just like Meredith had done.

Morgan smiled back and muttered, "Mogan."

"Yes. You're Morgan," Ellis told her. "I'm Ellis."

Morgan moved her lips, trying to mimic her name for herself. Then she looked at her mother and pointed to her, "Mommy."

"That's your mother," Ellis approved.

And then there was silence. Morgan had her doll with her, so she played with it, now and then looking at the grown-ups to see what they were up to. Ellis wasn't saying anything and she just watched her granddaughter play, while Meredith didn't know how to say to her mother what she had to say.

She had come there with a purpose, not just to visit her mother, but she was afraid of her mother's answer.

"The wedding is 5 days," she finally told her mother.

Ellis looked up, glaring. "What were you thinking?" she asked, scowling.

"I want you to come," Meredith insisted, adding quietly, "You've all I got as family."

Ellis was shaking her head with disapproval. "Why do you think I came here?" she asked rhetorically. "I don't want to humiliate myself in front of other people."

Meredith stared for a moment, clearing her head. "There are people here, too."

"But they're not going to be your family," Ellis answered. "It's better not to come."

"I am not embarrassed with you," she told her mother.

"I am. I am embarrassed with me."

"But it's not your fault that you're sick."

Ellis just looked at her for a moment. "It's just a wedding, Meredith. A ceremony. I've seen weddings before." Then she added, when Meredith wanted to say something, "You know you don't care much about the wedding. All you want is be married to the man you love. Besides, there will be photos and video shoots," she went, adopting a comforting tone.

Meredith had thought that, indeed, but apparently, it wasn't what she really believed about her wedding. She was surprised to discover, that it was actually a big thing. Unfortunately, her mother didn't see it.

Meredith didn't insist with it, because she knew it would be useless. She tried to hide her deep disappointment and sat a little longer, making small talk with her mother about work and Morgan.

"I am sorry," her mother said sincerely as Meredith stood up to leave.

She stopped and looked at her mother. She knew she was honest about it, so she couldn't hate her for that. She nodded and took Morgan's hand, waving together at grandma.

Meredith found Ellis staring at them, with an empty look on her face. "Will you call my daughter?" she heard her asking one of the nurses that was just passing by her table. "I think I want to hear from my granddaughter."

The nurse looked up at Meredith, knowing who she was. She smiled kindly at Ellis and nodded, walking then up to Meredith. "It's the first time we hear her asking to talk to someone," she told Meredith.

Meredith looked at her mother. Her thoughts were lost again as she kept staring blankly at the book in her hands. She sighed and nodded at the nurse. "It must be because I surprised her with a visit from her granddaughter."

"Maybe you can bring her more often," the nurse suggested. "Would you like to speak with the doctor?"

Meredith checked her watch. She wasn't in a particular hurry, but she had to meet with Derek and his sister for lunch.

"Next time. I have to go now," Meredith explained.

The nurse nodded understandingly and Meredith took Morgan back to the car. She could be late for lunch, but the truth was that she didn't want to talk or think about her mother at the very moment. She understood the situation, but she still hated it; she hated the thought that she would have no family by her side at the wedding.

"Mommy?" Morgan was tugging on her hand when she was late to open the door.

Meredith took a deep breath and fought back the tears. She forced herself to smile at her daughter as she opened the door. She picked her up and placed her in her car seat. She could feel her daughter's gaze on her.

"Me no 'ike ha," Morgan shook her head, sad.

Meredith looked up, surprised with her daughter's words. "You don't like her?" Morgan shook her head. That hurt her deeply, because that must have reflected her very own feelings when she was a child like Morgan. "She's sick, Morgan," she tried to explain. "So we have to like her a little. Ok?"

Morgan didn't seem to have understood much from her mother's explanation, but she nodded, guessing that that was the answer she wanted to hear.

…

By the time Meredith and Morgan arrived at the restaurant, Izzie, Derek and his sister Amelia were already there, talking about the last wedding arrangements. Amelia was Derek's baby sister, which Meredith had met just 2 days ago and never heard of her until then as Derek and Amelia weren't in the best terms. The issues between them seemed to wind down though as they spent the last days together. And Meredith loved Amelia; she was smart, funny and most important, she was great with Morgan. She didn't met Andrea, Derek's other sister, but Amelia and Derek were so much alike.

Derek stood up, being the first one to see them coming. "Right on time! Food should be here any minute." He took Morgan and gave her a hug. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh-huh," Morgan giggled.

"I'm sorry we're late," Meredith smiled.

"That's fine," he kissed her and held the chair out for her. He held Morgan on his lap to help her eat.

"Hey Morgan!" Amelia cooed, pinching Morgan's cheek. "Did you see Grandma Ellis?"

"Anny," Morgan shook her head from her pinch, giggling.

"I love how she calls me Anny, which has nothing in common with my name," Amelia laughed.

"How's your mother?" Derek asked Meredith.

Meredith smiled wearily. "The same."

Derek smiled understandingly and nodded.

"Ok, so we talked about the music and food," Izzie told Meredith, putting her in theme with what they had talked about in her absence. "And since you said you left that on us, we just need your guest list?"

"My guest list?" Meredith sighed.

"Who from your family is coming? Besides your mother," Izzie asked, ready to write down.

Meredith didn't like the topic. She didn't feel like talking about the wedding, at the moment.

"She's not coming," Meredith said quietly. And explained as they looked surprised. "She's not feeling that good and… it's better not to come," she lied.

Derek caught her lie and he also caught the tremor in her voice. "Is it something serious?" Derek asked her.

"No! She's… just with her head and… thoughts and memories are messed up," Meredith stammered.

"Ok, but you must have an aunt and cousins," Izzie insisted.

"No," Meredith shook her head, trying to look cool about it. "No aunts or uncles; at least not from my mother's side."

"So…" Izzie felt like she still needed to say something about Meredith's guest, but she didn't know what exactly. Derek kicked her under the table then, making her stop. "Alright then," she pretended to write something down and she was done now.

The silence fell awkwardly over their table and Meredith felt like she couldn't handle it, especially knowing that it was because of her. "I am going to wash my hands… before food gets here," she smiled, trying hard to fight back the tears.

They watched her leave and Amelia asked sympathetically, "How can anyone be so lonely?"

"She's not lonely," Derek scowled at his sister. "She has me and Morgan."

"I rephrase that," Amelia nodded apologetically. "How could anyone be so lonely?"

"We know her story and that's why we don't insist," Derek also scolded Izzie.

"I am sorry," she apologized.

"Besides me and mom, none else is coming at the wedding from our family," Amelia told Derek.

"Kathleen called me," he nodded. "And Nancy has the babies."

"And Andrea already came to your wedding."

Derek sighed. He wasn't in the same situation as Meredith, but he was still disappointed.

"Maybe you could talk to Lexie," Izzie suggested to Derek.

"Her mother just passed away so…" he shook his head, not convinced that she would be able to attend the wedding.

Meredith and Lexie were getting along very well now and that's why Lexie was invited to the wedding, but unfortunately, her mother couldn't fight the cancer anymore. Derek had attended the funeral last week, giving her his support and Meredith's.

They had even talked about postponing the wedding, but Lexie insisted not to, promising that she would try to be there. But she was still recovering after her mother's death.

And Meredith's father was out of the question and almost forgotten.

"Does anyone care about this wedding?" Izzie asked, sounding somewhat outraged with the situation.

"We do!" Derek snapped nervous. Morgan stirred in his arms and Amelia scowled him for his tone. He took a deep breath and calmed down. "Meredith and I; you who are organizing it. It doesn't have to be sumptuous to have a great time."

Morgan made everyone laugh when she squealed and clapped her hands with joy as the waiter brought them the food.

"Are you that hungry?" Derek chuckled, giving her the fork.

Meredith returned at the table the same with the food. Derek stroked her hand, smiling.

"Look at her," she giggled, watching her daughter struggling to stick the chicken with the fork.

"Let me help you with it," Derek sliced the meat in smaller pieces, easier for Morgan to take them.

"We have a surprise guest at the wedding," Amelia announced them.

Derek questioningly looked at her, as he hadn't heard anything of a surprise guest.

"Is it someone famous?" Izzie asked, excited.

"Famous to our family," she nodded and smiled at Derek. "Our aunt Cathy."

"Really?" Derek was surprised indeed with the news.

Amelia told Meredith, then, "She didn't come to Derek's first wedding, though Derek is her favorite nephew. She didn't like Addison very much and she's that kind of person who tells what she thinks of people. But she said she'd come to this one, to bring you luck," she laughed at Derek.

"But she doesn't know me," Meredith pointed out.

"She's very… special," Amelia explained.

"She was never married and had no kids," Derek also cut in.

"But she traveled all around the world and she knows so many things. She's not one of those bitter old maids."

"Of course she had an affair with Addison's father, so that could be the reason why she chose to dislike Addison and not come to the wedding," Derek added.

"Still…" Amelia shrugged. "We haven't seen her in years and I am excited about her visit. I sent her an invitation, by the way."

This way, the wedding planning was over and they started retelling stories from the past. Meredith was curious to meet this aunt now.

…

Meredith had the day off that day, so Derek arrived home alone. He was surprised to find the house in dark and silence as it wasn't that late for everyone to go to bed. Then he remembered the events during the day. It hadn't been the easiest day for Meredith.

He went upstairs and checked on Morgan's room first. A tiny lamp was on by her crib, giving Morgan enough light to see around her if sometimes sleep wouldn't come that easy. Cujo was at his regular spot, by her crib, and Morgan was fussing inside.

"Daddy?" her soft voice called him quietly.

Derek walked up to her crib and bent over to pick her up. "It's Daddy, sweetheart. No sleepy?"

"No," but she sleepily rubbed her head against his shoulder.

Derek carried her to the rocking chair and cradled with her. "Have you been a good girl for mommy today?"

Morgan nodded slowly.

"I knew it," he chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. "Because you are a very good girl. And very pretty. And very smart," he was tickling her, making her laugh.

Derek laughed along with her and then kept rocking slowly, watching her eyelids closed. When she sounded asleep, he put her back in the crib and tucked her in. He was amazed each night he watched her sleep and saw how fast she was growing. Not long ago, they could barely understand a word from what she was trying to say.

As Morgan sounded asleep, Derek petted Cujo's head and then quietly left the room. He found Meredith sleep, or so she seemed to be like. He took a shower and got ready for bed before he returned into bedroom. This time, he heard a muffled sob coming from the bed and he knew she wasn't sleeping.

He crawled in behind her and put his arms around her. "That's alright. You can cry."

She rolled over into his arms and cradled to his chest, letting loud sobs coming out of her chest. It had been a hard day for Meredith, with the visit to her mother and then the wedding planning. Derek just let her cry. There was nothing for him to say to something she had been holding inside for a lifetime. He was sure that tomorrow would be brighter, because everything was different for Meredith now.


	66. Chapter 66

Crying seemed to have been what Meredith needed to charge herself with good mood and hope. Since that night, Meredith didn't feel depressed or worried about her wedding day. She knew it would be awesome because she would have everyone she knew and liked, there.

Even Derek was surprised with Meredith's new attitude. Of course she was still disappointed about her mother, but she was more understanding.

"I can't find my watch," Derek grumbled as he fumbled through his stuff in the drawer.

Meredith finished brushing her hair and sighed as she turned around and looked at Morgan, who was in their bed, playing with her father's watch. "Morgan?"

"Ick ock! Ick ock, Dada," she giggled and showed him his watch.

Derek's nervous state eased instantly. He chuckled and laid on the bed, kissing Morgan and taking his watch from her. "Good, so we're learning about the clock now, huh," he smirked at Morgan and then at Meredith. "Where's your phone?" he asked Morgan, while he put his watch to his wrist.

Morgan looked around her and found her pink phone toy. "On on!" she pretended to be ringing.

"Let me answer for you," Derek took the phone and also took Morgan into his arms. "Hello! This is Morgan's assistant. Daddy. Ms. Morgan is not available. She's on her way to breakfast." He pretended to hang up the phone and put it into his pocket.

"On on!" Morgan insisted, wanting to play more.

"On on after breakfast, Morgan," Meredith told her, kissing her before taking it ahead downstairs.

"On on!" Morgan started again, when she saw Derek dialing on his phone.

Derek winked down at her and listened to the ring, hoping there would be an answer on the other end of the line. He sighed and hung up.

"Still no answer?" Meredith asked.

Derek sighed and shook his head. "No." he took his cup of coffee and sat down on table, beside Morgan. He broke the boiled egg into pieces and let Morgan serve herself from it.

"I haven't heard from him in days," he grumbled. "And mom hasn't heard anything from him. He was supposed to be my best man, Meredith," he poured his worry to Meredith.

Meredith sat down across the table. She didn't know what to tell him to comfort him. She knew almost nothing about Mark. He was forgotten and a stranger to her since the day she left pregnant from New York.

"Maybe something happened…" she knew those were useless words, but she didn't have better than those.

"If he's not coming…" Derek was shaking his head with disappointment. "After he promised he would come…" he couldn't take his threat to an end though.

"Don't you have other people to call? And see what's going on with him?"

"He took a leave of absence," Derek answered, with disgrace in his voice.

"Maybe… he wants to make you a surprise," Meredith still wanted to encourage him.

Derek smiled gratefully for her efforts. "Why am I surprised?" he asked, pointing suggestively to Morgan. She was the best example of how serious Mark was.

There was something Morgan didn't like in her food, so she made a grimace and took everything out of her mouth, throwing it down on the floor. She watched how Cujo immediately ate it. Morgan giggled and clapped her hands, ready to throw him more of her food.

"No," Meredith stopped her. "Cujo has his food. You eat yours."

Morgan complied like a good girl that she was and ate on her breakfast.

"Are you nervous?" Derek asked Meredith.

Meredith smiled wearily at him and Derek knew the answer already. "No," she stated, but Derek knew she was at least a little bit nervous.

"Me neither," he answered.

After breakfast, Meredith took Morgan upstairs to clean her up after her meal and Derek cleaned up around the kitchen, assisted by Amelia, who had just came downstairs.

Derek checked his watch as he heard someone at the door, wondering who could be at that hour. Since she became a grandma and Morgan was big enough to spend a few hours at the daycare, Claudia was coming to sit with her only when it was necessary.

"Mom!" Derek was surprised to find his mom at their doorstep. "Aunt Christy!" he was even more surprised to see his aunt.

"Derek!" Christy stepped in first and pulled her nephew into a hug. She was younger than Carolyn and it showed in her young spirit as she pinched his arm. "You're getting old, Derek," she mocked him, laughing.

"And you're… getting younger," Derek chuckled.

"I know," she smirked proudly.

"Hi, mom," he gave his mother a peck and helped them with their luggage. "Why didn't you say you changed the flight?"

"Never mind," Christy aimlessly waved her hand, discarding the useless question. "Where are they?" she asked, curiously searching around.

"Upstairs."

"You have a dog!" she beamed when she saw Cujo running down the stairs. It took them a split second to become friends.

When Meredith and Morgan came downstairs, everyone was in the living room, chatting. Christy was the first one to see that and also the first one that stood up to greet them.

"Morgan," she smiled as she approached Meredith and pulled her into her arms. "You're as pretty as Derek described you. I'm Christy."

Meredith looked at Derek, amused, and giggled. "And I am Meredith. This is Morgan," she smiled down at her daughter.

"Really?" she asked, looking back at the family, with distrust.

Derek and everyone else nodded.

"Why did I misunderstand?"

"Maybe because he talks about Morgan the most," Meredith told her.

"How could you not know that Meredith is the bride? You received the invitation," Carolyn rolled her eyes.

"Oh," Christy just shook her head, not carrying that much. "I am sorry," she apologized to Meredith. "I hope I don't need that piece of paper to get to the wedding."

"She loses things," explained to Meredith.

Christy knelt in front of Morgan, who was carefully watching her, and smiled at her. "You're very pretty."

Morgan giggled and nodded, approving her.

Christy laughed and picked her up, without noticing the reluctance on Meredith's face. Morgan didn't do very well with new people that fast. But it seemed that Christy knew better and that Amelia had been right about their aunt; Morgan immediately liked her.

"Kuko," Morgan told her, pointing down to her dog and introducing him to her.

"We've met," Christy nodded. "I am Christy. Can you say 'Christy'?"

Morgan opened her mouth to repeat, but feeling that she wouldn't say it right, she shut it back and nodded.

"Do you have any news from Mark?" Derek asked his mom.

Carolyn shook her head, but looked calm despite the fact that Derek was nervous about Mark's disappearance.

"I talked to him yesterday," Christy cut in.

"You did? And what did he say? When is he coming?" Derek asked anxiously.

But his aunt shrugged her shoulders. "I called him to make an appointment for a friend. We didn't even talk about the wedding. I am sure he'll come. He took days off from work."

Derek sighed and nodded, disappointed with the lack of information.

Morgan stayed home that day. She had two grown women to take care of her and spoil her. In the meantime, her parents stayed busy at work, keeping their thoughts off the wedding and Mark's disappearance. They managed to arrive home for dinner and spend some family time.

Meredith learned more about Derek from his aunt; how he used to clean around her house for some pocket money during the summer or how he had been caught stealing flowers from the cemetery to give them to a girl that was visiting her grandma on summer holidays, having a crush on her.

"He was so skinny, Meredith!" Christy kept on telling stories about Derek. "We took a trip the beach once and …"

"Please don't," Derek asked her, visibly embarrassed.

Amelia snickered and elbowed him.

"He was doing all those swimming figures into the water so proud that he was admired by the people around him that he didn't even noticed when he had lost his shorts," Christy went on despite Derek's protest, bursting into laugh together with Meredith.

To comfort him, Meredith put her arms around him. "I bet you were looking hot at that age, too. What age was that?" she asked Christy.

"I think he was around 13 or 14?"

"Oh," Meredith giggled and pursed her lips to kiss him.

"Yeah," Derek grumbled, but kissed her back. "I think we should call it a night," he stated, looking down at Morgan, who had fallen asleep on the floor, with Cujo beside her.

Derek took Morgan upstairs and Christy offered to help Meredith clean around, while Carolyn and Amelia went to bed.

"You're very lucky, Meredith," Christy told her, while putting the glasses in the sink. "He was clumsy sometimes, nerd too, but he turned into a perfect male."

Meredith smiled. "He is… kind of perfect."

"He told you that I never liked his ex wife?" Meredith nodded as answer to her question. "I simply couldn't like her," Christy stated. "She's a fine woman, but she wasn't the right one for Derek. I could never picture them together."

Meredith didn't say anything about that. "Do you think Mark will come?"

There was a strange smile on Christy's face as Meredith asked her that. As if she knew a big secret about something. She looked at the door, paying attention if anyone was coming and then told Meredith, "Derek and Mark are so different. I think that's why they have always been best friends; they completed each other. I hope Derek would never change and I hope the same thing for Mark too."

Meredith was glancing at her, confused with what she was trying to say.

'Does Carolyn know?" she asked Meredith. "About Morgan being Mark's child?"

A chill crossed down her spine at that question.

Christy laughed, with the same good mood. "I am not surprised with Derek's gesture of adopting Mark's kid, but I wouldn't be very happy if you two are together just because of that."

Dumbfounded, Meredith shook her head. "We've met before he found out about Mark."

"Yes. I heard that you met the night Morgan was born," Christy smiled. "Does his family know?"

"Just a few people," Meredith answered.

Christy nodded understandingly. "They keep their secrets very well," she told her. "They keep secrets from each other, too." She chuckled at Meredith's stunned expression. "I know them all. With Morgan wasn't even that hard. Because of the birthmark she has on her waist." As she put the last glass in the dryer, Christy turned to Meredith. "I like you and I hope that you two are together because of the love you have for each other and not because of the gratitude or a grant gesture. That'd be really sad," saying that, she smiled and squeezed Meredith's hand. "Good night, Meredith."

"Good night," Meredith answered quietly, after Christy had left the kitchen.

She turned the light off and went upstairs. She liked Christy for being honest and understandable, besides for being funny and intelligent. After she checked on Morgan and saw her peacefully sleeping, Meredith went into her room.

Derek was in bed already, reading from a magazine. He looked up when she walked in and put the magazine aside. "She didn't even flinch when I dressed her in the pajama."

Meredith giggled. "With your aunt around…"

"You like her," Derek noticed, pleased.

Meredith smiled and lay down with him. "I do."

Derek kissed her on the forehead. "Told you!"

"Yeah," Meredith chuckled. She looked at him, then, smiling, "We're not together because of Moran, are we?"

"Meredith," Derek sighed.

"No," she wanted to reassure him. "Your aunt asked. Because she knows."

"She knows? What?"

"About Morgan and Mark."

Derek understood then and nodded. "I am not surprised. She spent the day with her. And I'll give her the answer tomorrow. We're not together because of Morgan."

"I told her," she smiled proudly.

"Did you also tell her how much you love me?"

Meredith giggled. "No."

"Uh… then I will have to let her know about that, too." He flipped her onto her back and moved on top of her.

"I need to shower,"

"Ok," Derek got out of the bed, quickly stripping his clothes off. "I need one too."

"But you showered already," Meredith laughed.

"I still need one," he pulled her by the hand and scooped her up in his arms, taking her into the bathroom.

"We're not leaving anything for our honeymoon?" she asked.

"Oh I think we still have plenty for our honeymoon," he laughed, crashing his lips against hers.


End file.
